There are a couple kindergarten teachers at Bartley Elementary who have a reputation as great teachers and best friends.
In April, Katie Finley Cauwenbergh was named 2018 Fulton Public Schools teacher of the year.
"I call her Finn," Robyn Frame said. "She teaches right across the hall from me."
Frame, her partner in education and friendship, has been named one of Missouri's Regional Teachers of the Year.
Frame was actually once Cauwenbergh's teachers, mentoring her through her practicum a precursor to student teaching.
"She had that natural ability," Frame said.
Both will be awaiting students Wednesday when the 2018-19 school year begins. In 1982, Frame was a first-year teacher.
"I taught third grade at New Bloomfield - that was my first stomping grounds," she said.
A couple of years later, she began teaching kindergarten at Bush Elementary, and spent 4 1/2 years there. Frame took off a few years when she had her daughters, Hannah and Olivia, and then opened Ship Shape aerobics studio in Columbia.
She eventually began teaching in a school setting again as a gym and music teacher at St. Peter Catholic School, and 14 years ago, transitioned back to elementary education, joining Bartley as a kindergarten teacher.
Frame is a Fulton graduate.
"I had three sisters and one brother, and 36 years ago, I married my high school sweetheart (Bill)," she said. "This was supposed to be my quiet summer."
Instead, she and Bill sold their home and are moving, and she has a newborn grandson. She also had to write three essays as part of the state teacher of the year competition.
"In 2014-15, I was the Fulton Public School's teacher of the year, and that was a huge honor," Frame added.
Now Frame's teaching children of some of her former students.
"It's one of my favorite things," she said. "And I'm friends on Facebook with former students."
Frame and Cauwenbergh have similar attitudes when it comes to children and building enthusiasm for learning into their budding lives.
"I love mentoring students," Frame said. "You should have the desire to be an awesome teacher."
She talked about her own mentors at Columbia College and the University of Missouri and from other teachers who taught her the craft.
"I had great professors along the way - very encouraging," Frame said.
She's nowhere near retiring. Frame said she still finds her job fascinating.
"They'll ask you anything, and they'll tell you anything," she said of her students. "I haven't lost my desire yet. People ask me when I'm going to retire, but I have no desire to retire yet. I want to go out when I'm on a high."
According to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Regional Teacher of the Year program began in 2016 in an effort to celebrate outstanding teachers from all areas of the state. The Missouri Teacher of the Year for 2018-19 will be selected in August. Beth Davey, a music teacher from Iveland Elementary (Ritenour), is the current Missouri Teacher of the Year.