On to active duty

NEA Today, Feb 2002

Veteran's Day held special significance for Pauline Geraci an adult basic education teacher at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Stillwater. She's now on active duty in the U.S. Army.

Geraci was mobilized after the tragic events of September 11. Her orders specify that she will serve a minimum of one year on active duty, that she will initially go to Japan, and that she will work in public affairs. She doesn't know whether she will eventually serve in Afghanistan.

The new orders left her scrambling. She had to pack, make arrangements for her four pets (her fiance will watch them), and to organize her work so that someone could fill in for her-not an easy assignment.

Geraci has used several grants from the Education Minnesota Foundation for Excellence in Teaching and Learning to advance the cause of her at-risk students. And it's these students who will miss her the most. As one of them told her, "There is no one else like you, Ms. G. I don't know how we're going to replace you."