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I\u2019m here to teach, Taylor would tell them, and we\u2019ll have fun.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiss Pat had plans for the kids she worked with,\u201d said Logan principal Antonio Villar. \u201cShe would leave me letters with ideas she had. Miss Pat had a force of her own. I don\u2019t know if I could have ever said no to her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taylor grew up in Minnesota, the fourth of 11 children. She graduated from college with a degree in elementary education and taught in Connecticut, Georgia and Minnesota before she and Don moved to California in 2001 to be near Don\u2019s mother. By then, Taylor had retired after more than fifteen years of teaching but she remained committed to working with young people. That year she approached McKinley about volunteering.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiss Pat would ask a kid to give her a report on the book they\u2019d read,\u201d said retired McKinley principal Julie Ashton-Gray. \u201cShe\u2019d tell the other students to keep reading but of course she knew they would listen to the student give their report and they did and then they wanted to read that book, too. She could act gruff and pretend she didn\u2019t care but she had these tricks to keep them engaged.\u201d<\/p>\n
College freshman and former McKinley student and book club participant Emily Mattson, 19, described the club as a \u201ccoveted program.\u201d \u201cTo get an adult to give you individual attention about a book you read made you feel special,\u201d Mattson said.<\/p>\n
Taylor gave students points for reading and oral reports. She quilted pillows for them to sit on and gave them foreign coins as prizes for completing a book. A child could get away with an easy book once or twice but then Taylor pushed them to read something more demanding. She had a knack for suggesting books that would help a child deal with issues at home such as a death in the family or divorce.<\/p>\n
About twice a year, Taylor took book club members to Sammy’s Woodfired Pizza & Grill in San Diego where they were treated to ice cream sundaes courtesy of the restaurant as a reward for their participation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would drive some of them to Sammy\u2019s,\u201d recalled Ashton-Gray, \u201cand they\u2019d all be in the back seat reading a book. You\u2019d think they\u2019d be listening to music but they were reading. Miss Pat inspired them.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2012, Taylor received a $3,000 literacy grant from the Rotary Club of San Diego and financed a visit from poet and children’s-book author Gary Soto to read at McKinley and Logan.<\/p>\n
\u201cPat was a very loving person,\u201d Soto said from his home in Berkeley, California. \u201cShe really cared. Teaching wasn\u2019t just a job to her. Pat thought she could improve the lives of children through reading.\u201d<\/p>\n