Posted by Brian K. White, a member of the Corte Madera School community, on Mar 12, 2010 at 1:44 pm

If this is the same Linda Vlasic who taught 4th grade at Corte Madera School in Portola Valley in 1975 - 1976, she was the best teacher I ever had in my life. She had to take the last part of the school year off to have her (first?) baby, so we all missed her a lot at the end of 4th grade.

Mrs. Vlasic was truly admired and loved by her students as we learned all about the Gold Rush and the American Revolution. This school year was the year that became the Bicentennial Anniversary for America so we were all extra motivated to learn. Mrs. Vlasic really understood what the classroom energy was and was able to harness it and use it to our development and growth. To this day, she remains the one teacher in my life that got me to understand myself and what it meant to be part of something important and that, in fact, everything we do is important so do it well. I went on to graduate from Cornell Universtity and live in Japan for 12 years while starting a family. I have always wondered how she was doing and am glad to find this article and be able to comment about her impact in my life.

Thank you Mrs. Vlasic.

Kind regards,

Brian White

The "math blocks" kid

Posted by Linda Vlasic, a member of the Corte Madera School community, on Apr 6, 2010 at 4:42 pm

Hi Brian,

Of course I remember you! Thanks for writing to the Forum. I received a note from a parent who suggested I read your comments. My goodness....so nice to hear from you. Do you ever get back to PV? Yes, after 35 years I retired three years ago. I always loved teaching and am now taking a class at Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve on the Stanford campus so I can continue teaching older kids as a docent for the Preserve....not just the cute 3rd and 4th graders I taught all those years. Take care and thanks again for your kind words.

Cheers, Linda Vlasic