GARDEN GROVE : Teacher’s Birthday Bash Is Fun Lesson

As 99-year-old Leone Jackson arrived at Peters Elementary School on Friday, about 700 students applauded and shouted, “Happy birthday, Grandma Jackson!”

To celebrate her birthday, the children presented her with a red cape and jeweled crown, sat her on a makeshift throne and showered her with cards and letters they had written this week.

Jackson became a schoolteacher in 1911 in Nebraska. Today she teaches English and Spanish at the Paramount Adult Center and tutors on the side.

Her granddaughter, Gwynne McGwire, a special-education teacher at Peters, and Principal Sharon Wiggins planned the birthday bash to honor Jackson and make writing meaningful for the students.

The letter-writing to Jackson was used as a lesson, McGwire said.

“It’s a learning experience for the kids,” Wiggins added. “We didn’t just want to write pretend letters. This way, they can see who they wrote to.”

The youngsters also made a banner, using Jackson’s age as the time frame, and, in doing so, learned about the 17 men who served as President of the United States during that time.

Students swarmed around Jackson asking her who her favorite President was. Her answer: Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Jackson also recited the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling, which she said had inspired her through the years.

“Teaching has been my lifetime enjoyment,” Jackson said. “I like that feeling that I’m contributing to the world in my own way.”

Jackson, now a great-grandmother of nine and a resident of Bellflower, moved to California in 1929 with her husband and two children. She could not find work so she enrolled at USC, where she received her doctorate degree in 1942.

She then taught first through sixth grades at a Paramount school. At 68, she was forced to leave because of a mandatory retirement law that was later repealed.

That year, Jackson became the Peace Corps’ oldest volunteer, determined to bring the gift of education to children in Peru. She taught there for two years before returning to Paramount.