By Barry Engelhardt

Although Donna Washam retired from teaching after thirty-four years, the profession continues to be a significant part of her life. She vividly remembers several childhood influences, from her aunt, who taught high school history, to her first-grade teacher, who also taught Donna's mother decades prior. Although Donna retired in 2010, she continued as a substitute teacher for another decade. Her teaching legacy lives on through one of her children, Alex Washam, who followed in her footsteps by graduating from and returning to teach at Merrimac. Family is important to Donna, who shares that she has two children and four grandchildren, whom she pridefully says she "spoils and sends back home."

Donna's roots in Mounds run deep, which she proudly shares as she still resides in the house she grew up in. Despite brief stints in Cairo and near Horseshoe Lake, she has never strayed too far. When asked about her decision to stay, even as many from her generation left, she states, "This is home."

Donna vividly remembers details of her childhood, sharing that Mounds had yet to offer kindergarten and that she attended Thistlewood Grade School, which acted as a feeder school for Merrimac High School. She recalls that Thistlewood closed when she was in seventh or eighth grade, setting the stage for the school district's current formation.

Donna describes the Mounds of her childhood as an active and robust community filled with grocery stores and dime stores. "There were all kinds of stores," shares Donna, who admits that the town has dwindled as people moved away. But through each change, Mounds has always invoked strong and positive feelings, feelings she admits she struggles to articulate.

After graduating from high school in 1970, Donna attended SEMO to study education and returned home to accept a teaching position at her alma mater. Donna held countless positions, including Title 1, kindergarten, 1st grade, 7th grade English, and art. Shaking her head, Donna confesses that while she minored in art in college, she quickly learned that she enjoyed studying and creating art far more than teaching it. Still, she says the district needed an art teacher, so she fulfilled the role.

Donna values the strong connections she developed with friends she met in first and third grade, recognizing that these bonds, formed during their shared experience of growing up in Mounds, have made a profound and lasting impact. While she and her three best friends are scattered throughout the United States, they still visit one another and host weekly Zoom calls, unwilling to let time or distance stand in the way of the bonds they forged in their youth.

Looking back on the decades she spent teaching, she fondly remembers her relationships with other teachers and students. "It was just more like family. I'm a very home-oriented person. When I moved to Cairo, it wasn't that far away, but I came back home for everything."

She continues, adding, "When I was teaching, we had a lot of teachers who came mostly from Cape Girardeau and lived there. But they considered this their community. They did a lot of things here, in this community."

As someone who has witnessed Mounds as a resident, a mother, and a teacher, Donna has had the privilege of viewing her community through several lenses. As she looks towards the future, her greatest gift is for people to remember to be kind to one another. In a world that can often be mean and negative, she suggests that smiling and showing respect doesn't cost a penny, yet its impact on others is priceless.