Gail Feind

Pennecamp

After teaching for 32 plus years, I retired from Chesterfield County Public Schools in Chesterfield County, Virginia. My journey in teaching started in a 5th grade classroom in Buffalo, New York, where I was born and raised. From there, Bob and I moved to Alief, Texas for a year where I again, ventured into a 5th classroom. However, this was with a different twist and matched all of the latest teaching environments, techniques and educational language of the 70's Do you remember classroom pods? Well, this was my new home for a year. The large classroom was divided into 4 classes where I was part of a 4 - teacher team. We taught the core subjects and divided students by ability for reading and math. Since I was the "newbie" on the team, you guessed it, I was blessed and loved every student in my high reading group and low math group.

Most of my teaching career was in Virginia as a Title 1 Reading/Math and Reading Recovery Teacher. I taught at-risk students K-5 during the day and in a Before School program, and tutored after school. During the summer, I coordinated a 6 week summer school program and served as the principal. In addition, I developed and presented workshops for parents and teachers at the local, state and national levels.

Bob and I love to cruise......we have traveled to Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean, Costa Rica, and the Panama Canal. One day we would like to cruise the Mediterranean and Baltic areas, and eventually return to Hawaii.

Volunteer work is my passion and I was quite active in our church and in the community before we moved to The Villages. Church activities included chairing the Mission Ministry team, teaching Sunday School, serving as a Stephen Minister, and organizing and/or leading several mission trips to Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina; community activities included serving on the board of the Chesterfield Historical Society, giving guided tours of Magnolia Grange, working on the Chesterfield/Colonial Heights Christmas Mother committee, and mentoring through the Big Brother Big Sister program.

Since moving to The Villages, I have joined the Friends of the Library and work in their bookroom at Pinellas, became treasurer of The Original Virginia Club, and joined the Bookworm Book Club.

Member of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, the Chesterfield Historical Society and Chester United Methodist Church in Chester, Virginia.

Enjoy traveling, reading, playing cards, shopping, watching old movies, photography, and learning to play Mahjongg.

Before we moved to The Villages, Bob and I were active HOG members in the Colonial Heights, VA chapter. HOG is the shorten version for Harley Davidson Owner's Group. No, I did not ride on the back of the motorcycle but I did follow along with the group on rides and trips in my SUV. One of our trips was to ride "The Tail of the Dragon," a very winding road with sharp curves in the mountains of Tennessee. The group rode their cycles and I drove our vehicle.....a very scary ride that gave me more gray hairs.