The Name

As an introduction to Book Forest Tutoring, I wanted to take a moment to tell the story behind the name.

I knew I wanted to be a teacher in the second grade. In my journal, I would dream of the day I would have my own classroom with my own students. Every Barbie, every stuffed animal, every American Girl doll was subject to my goal of becoming a teacher.

But the real inspiration behind the desire to become a teacher were the teachers that taught me.

I can name them: Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Hunt, Mrs. Weatherly, Mrs. James, Coach Leonard, Mrs. Keck, Coach Keck, Coach Francis, Mrs. Arndt, Mrs. Jones-Toledo, Mr. Ellis, Mrs. Sumner, Mrs. Jernigan, Mrs. Roper. And many I know I am forgetting.

One on this list, Coach Keck, had (has) the ability to connect with his middle school students on both a personal and academic level. My whole seventh grade year, he took the time to get to know me, tease me, challenge me, and celebrate me, and mid-year, he bestowed upon me the greatest gift you could give a seventh grader: a nickname. Not just any nickname, but a clever one that only could be used by Coach Keck. It was an honor to receive one and the mark of trust in a student-teacher relationship.

My nickname? Book. Forest.

My name? Paige. Woods.

Flash forward 20 years, I found myself teaching at the same school with Coach Keck. I told him if I ever started my own tutoring company, I would be using his nickname.

To me, it symbolizes more than just my name. It reminds me that relationship is at the heart of teaching. Without it, books are just books taught by a stranger with a degree.

So, it might take some time. It might even be mid-year until we start to feel comfortable. But you know what they say, good things take time.