i still remember the day well when i sat across from mrs. joanie daily for my community of caring board interview. i only applied to be on the board because my brother parker had done it and raved about his experience. i was convinced joanie accepted my application as a junior only because i was related to parker. but now i understand that she accepted my application because she saw greatness in me. a greatness i soon came to believe in myself.
i served that year as a care team director, working with elementary schools across the salt lake valley to implement service teams. at the end of the year we provided an opportunity for teachers to nominate students to receive the head, heart, hands award.
joanie taught me how to be a leader that year. not always in the things she said, but in the way she treated me and the example she taught. she gave just enough guidelines that i was confident in what i was doing, then stepped back and let me do my thing. she was there when i made terrible mistakes and she was there when the triumphs were great.
senior year came and i applied to be the service scholar director. again, joanie saw the greatness in me and accepted my application. she handed me the service scholar packet, a list of those wanting to get the award, and said "good luck!"
again, i had the chance to develop as a leader. this year i needed her more, as the service scholar program seemed more comprehensive and all-inclusive. among my millions of questions and concerns, joanie stayed a constant beacon of hope and light, a happy smile among the faces of frustrated teens i was trying to lead on their way to the victory of the service scholar award. she would always ask me how i wanted to solve the problem, give her sage advice then say, "you'll figure it out."
one day, i decided to slough community of caring because i didn't want to visit one of the service sites i was assigned to. the whole time i was at the park and at wendy's (living the dream, right?) during that class, i just felt awful. and not because i was missing class, but because i felt like i was letting mrs. daily down. we got back to school and it only took 5 minutes before i marched into her classroom to apologize. as any good mother would, she expressed her disappointment, then courageously told me all the qualities she admired about me, and that she knew i was a good girl. i walked away feeling so amazing about myself.
shortly after that, in fact, joanie pulled me aside and asked me to represent all the high schools in utah at a utah board of educator's conference. my task was to speak about how service had influenced my high school experience - in an attempt to rally for the right for arts to stay in schools. i gladly and humbly accepted the challenge, and worked with joanie to perfect a speech to present to educators from all over the state of utah.
the day of the speech came and my mom and i drove to the little america hotel for the big debut. first, an elementary school student got up and talked about how much he loved art. then, a junior high group came in and played music for us while the trembling band president spoke about the power of music. then it was my turn. i proudly stood and spoke about service and how it had changed my life for the better in high school, and the amazing teacher we had that gave us many wonderful opportunities to reach outside the self-centered teen ego and truly love. when rulon gardner, the keynote speaker, got up, he too praised good teachers all over the world inspiring kids to be good citizens.
adorning those old walls of joanie's classroom were quotes from world leaders that inspired her. each of her lessons were tailored to character building and helping us see others in a light of hope and success. the day we pulled off the service scholar banquet, joanie told me it was the best one she'd ever seen. i'm sure she said that to her service scholar director every year, but to me, it was the million dollar words i needed to hear. i wanted more than anything to be a champion in her eyes.
and that wasn't hard to do, because everyone is a champion in her eyes.
- - -
attending joanie daily's funeral last weekend helped me get an even better glimpse into the kind of woman she is. i was so inspired by the words of her dear "sue" friends, her darling granddaughter maggie, her three daughters-in-law, and of course her four strong boys.
there was a consistency in the things said about joanie that day. i felt completely inspired to be a better person after hearing things said and feeling the spirit of our dear friend who has passed on to a new adventure.
some things that stood out to me in the service:
- "love your neighbor and do something about it!"
- "accomplish, love, do, give!"
- when we serve, we see the good in people. SERVE!
- the best things we can give our children are roots and wings
- "joanie believed in everybody"
- "maybe that's why our tennis team was the biggest in the state, because joanie didn't have the heart to cut any of the girls"
funerals have an interesting way of putting life back into perspective. when all is said and done in this life, we don't spend time talking about worldly accomplishments or the accolades of men more than perhaps a brief mention. we more often than not honor and praise characteristics - christlike characteristics that are molded, grown, then shared over a lifetime.
the last time i saw joanie daily was last may when she came to canyon rim academy, where i was teaching, for the head heart hands assembly. it was a flash of memory, as i thought of myself up in front of elementary schools as that care team director so many years before - and in joanie's eyes, i saw the same pride for those teens as i saw when she looked at me up in front of the kids.
i went up to say hello afterwards, and you would've thought we were best friends being reunited after 2 decades. joanie asked all about my teaching and my life and how my family was. she told me how excited she was to have my little sister in her class the following year, then thanked me for going into one of the most influential professions in the world. she told me my students were the luckiest students to have me, and i believed her. i always have.
in the past week since joanie's funeral, i've found myself thinking about her a lot. i passed a lady at walmart who needed help getting into her car and thought to myself, "if joanie were here, she would totally help that lady." and that's pretty cool.
i've been blessed to learn from many amazing teachers in my life. but some have had a more profound influence than others. joanie is one of those teachers to me - a "favorite" that has taught me so much, both in her living, and in her passing.
i know she's not resting on the other side, but that her service-oriented spirit continues to bless and inspire the many people she's coming in contact with everyday. i'm grateful to have been one of those people she's touched, and will forever love and remember her influence.
