Irene James

Oh how I remember Mrs James with great affection and admiration. She was our son’s 4th grade teacher at Maplewood Elementary in Portland. Not just any teacher but the teacher he and we especially remembered for her gentle kindly smiling excellent classroom teaching style. A highlight of the year, if you were lucky enough to be in her class, was the spring event! Mrs James would set up a pen in the center of the classroom, circle all desks around it and introduce a friendly hen with her...

She was a wonderful sister and I miss her very much.

We have dear memories of Mrs. James as our son's teacher at Maplewood Elementary. Calm, organized, loving and creative as a teacher, she made the year very special. All her students will remember the chicken that Mrs.James would bring into class during the spring. Set up in a caged middle-of-the-room space, student desks surrounded the chicken as she laid eggs which later became chicks mimicking their mother's scratching and pecking, hurrying to hide under her feathers when frightened. Mrs....