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Tague - Olan Mills

Mrs. Hildra Tague is a freelance writer, consultant, and teacher dedicated to issues of education and parenting. This all started when she was on her high school yearbook staff, as well as putting out newsletters and yearbooks for a small private school.

Through the years she has amassed a quantity of writing in several areas including psychoeducational articles for parents and teachers, children's stories, inspirational pieces, poetry about education and life, humor vignettes from the mouths of children she's taught, and is working on a book about growing up in rural Oklahoma.

Experience

She has taught a couple of decades each in both public and private school. She founded Treetop, a small private school, tutored all ages for a number of years, and consulted with both parents and teachers to help solve learning challenges with children of all ages. She has been a team leader in both regular education and special education. She has particular experience in motivating reluctant learners.

Education

Mrs. Tague has several certifications, including elementary, special education, and ESL. She majored in education with a strong minor in psychology. She was in Kappa Delta Pi and Alpha Chi and on the President's and Dean's Honor Rolls, as well as later in Who's Who in American Education. She has also taken training in working with the gifted. She has specialized in perception, remediation, motivation and self-esteem.

Honors

She was Teacher of the Year in two different schools, and served on Advisory Boards and curriculum committees, and as a delegate and speaker at the state teachers' association, as well as Ad Hoc Study Group on Early Childhood. She spoke to several women's clubs about Learning Differences and an international meeting of Association for Children with Learning Disabilities about Solving Learning Problems. She has also appeared in several radio shows and TV talk shows about meeting the needs of children who learn differently.

Some of her articles which won an Editor's Choice Award can be helpful to teachers, parents, and grandparents alike. Rhymes for Memorizing Multiplication Facts gives a special opportunity to use math mastery as recreation! Another EC Award deals with gasoline and going green. Then there's that all-important Role of White Space in the Classroom which can help teachers get their message across to students.

Publications

She has published several dozen columns in varied newspapers and local magazines. Some titles were seasonal while others dealt with the problems faced by children, teachers and parents as regards education. Some of her articles dealt with nostalgic humor seen in working with children. She also covered the recent 350 celebrations.

Interests

For many years she has maintained an interest in seniors and their issues, including taking groups to sing at senior living residences and taking people under her wing to give a ride when needed. She is the sole caregiver for a spouse who has dealt with Stage IV cancer (mantle cell lymphoma with leukemia) and participates regularly in a support group for cancer and other serious diseases. She attends caregiver events and stays up on senior activities. She is also a proud grandparent.

She also served her community as a Cub Scout Den Coach, worked with parent-teacher groups, and volunteered in preschool serving disadvantaged children as well as tutoring children displaced from their homes by Children's Protective Service and others.

For fun she performs in several music groups (a traditional choir, a rock-folk group and even a couple of ensembles), and has worked with a children's choir. She also is working on several children's books (a series about a school mascot named Miss Popcorn Goat and one named Killer Rabbit!) as well as piggyback songs to make learning fun and easy.

This multifaceted lady writes for parents, teachers, grandparents, anyone interested in furthering either their own learning or the learning of others. Some of her finest moments are when she is working with students and witnesses a spark of excitement and learning. Magic moments of this sort inspire her to write poetry about various topics including issues in education and meeting the needs of our greatest natural resource -- our children!

She says her mission is "to write words that melt in your mind while keeping the lights on in my house."