Suzanne Thoele, class of 1971, remembers that at the back left-hand corner of Mrs. Luedke’s first-grade classroom was a reading circle, and that her teacher gave them little headphones to put on.
Thoele, who is in town this weekend for her 51st class reunion, is thrilled to also have the opportunity to reunite with her first-grade teacher, Lois Luedtke, along with Moppy Miller and eight to 10 of Luedtke’s former students, for a special brunch celebration this weekend.
Thoele said they are going to try and get a reunion photo in front of Northside Elementary School, which she attended during the late 1950s and early 1960s.
“We were her very first class,” Thoele recalled of the 34 kids, which included 24 boys and 10 girls. “She tried to get a job in Pflugerville but her first job was in Taylor.”
Thoele, a retired schoolteacher, said the high number of students in a first-year teacher’s classroom made an impression on her because nowadays, the current limit for students in one classroom in Texas is 22 students.
Thoele said several years ago she stumbled upon a Facebook post made by Luedtke, who is now 85 and lives in Pflugerville, and began corresponding with her.
Soon after, Thoele’s former schoolteacher expressed a desire to reunite.
“She said, ‘I would do anything to see all of my babies,’” Thoele recalled. “And I was like we are going to do this.”
“Her daughter is driving down from Fort Worth to drive her from Pflugerville to Taylor for the brunch,” Thoele said. “We have not seen her in 62 years.”
Thoele said this event is particularly meaningful for her because Luedtke changed the course of her life.
“Mrs. Luedtke’s early influence in my life led me to choose elementary education as my career for 27 years,” Thoele said. “I wanted to be just like her! We feel blessed to have had such amazing teachers and a strong community growing up.”
