Her Passion

HER PASSION + teaching

Retired teacher Voni Larson (middle) was presented with gifts and flowers on a beautiful spring day by her former students Cynthia Bunting (left) and Melissa Rogers (right).

Lifelong Learning

STUDENTS REUNITE WITH TEACHER MORE THAN 40 YEARS LATER

BY SARAH NELSON KATZENBERGER | PHOTOS BY JOEY HALVORSON

Teachers make an undeniable mark on the lives of the students who pass through their classrooms. For former classmates Cynthia Bunting and Melissa Rogers, the teacher who made the biggest impact on their lives was their sixth grade teacher Voni Larson.

“Even though I only had her as a teacher for a very short time, she made an impact on me I have never forgotten,” Rogers said.

Bunting and Rogers were in Larson’s class, then as a histologist at Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s known as Miss Motschke, at Harding Elementary Medical Center. School in 1979. Miss Motschke was a new teacher It wasn’t until their 30th high school class reat a small school in Harding when everyone went to union that Bunting and Rogers realized they shared school in one building. The pair attended school to- the same favorite teacher from all those years gether through junior high ago. “It came up in a disschool with their own quiet but sweet memories of their “She opened her cussion with some of our classmates, and we kind of year in Miss Motschke’s sixth grade class. arms and her looked at each other like, ‘I didn’t know (Larson) was “She was so sweet,” Bunting recalled, noting classroom to us.” your favorite teacher, too.” “We had this idea,” that both she and Rogers - Cynthia Bunting Bunting said. “We had to would show up to school find her and see her again.” early just to learn calligra- Through the magic of phy from Miss Motschke. “She opened her arms Facebook, Rogers tracked Voni Larson down and and her classroom to us,” Bunting said with a reintroduced her to Bunting. Larson was delighted. smile. “And she was such a classy dresser.” Now retired and living in Little Falls, Larson Motschke was married mid-year so spent nearly four decades teaching elementary by the time the girls were mov- school with hundreds of students under her tuing on to seventh grade, Miss telage over the years. Of all her students, Bunting Motschke had become and Rogers held a special place in her heart. Mrs. Larson. “You try not to show favoritism, but they were Bunting went on my favorites,” Larson said. She even recalled their to pursue a career early morning calligraphy lessons, adding that she in education, often partnered calligraphy with poetry. now teaching “I really wanted parents to see the ability their kids

TOP: Through the magic of Facebook, Melissa Rogers (right) tracked Voni Larson (left) down.

BOTTOM: It was all smiles for Voni Larson (middle) when she reunited with former students Cynthia Bunting (left) and Melissa Rogers (right).

FAR RIGHT: Former Harding Elementary School students Cynthia Bunting (right) and Melissa Rogers (middle) enjoy a spring visit with retired teacher Voni Larson (left). Bunting and Rogers reached out to Larson because they wanted her to know how much of an impact she had on them as young students.

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had,” Larson said. “I loved that so much — I wanted to teach students something they could enjoy.”

Larson said she often saw a lot of her young self in her students and made it her mission as a teacher to love every child who walked through her classroom door and to make sure they left her class with a sense of confidence.

“Every child should know there is at least one adult who is irrationally crazy about them,” she said.

Larson and her former students made plans to reconnect in person for a lunch date, but as with many things during the spring of 2020, they had to cancel due to the COVID-19 outbreak. “We were pretty heartbroken. At that point we just weren’t sure what would be possible because the virus was still so new,” Bunting explained.

Determined to figure out a way to see their former teacher, Bunting and Rogers hatched a plan to visit Larson at her home in Little Falls. Coordinating with Larson’s daughter, Danielle, Bunting and Rogers found a day in June to see Larson. With flowers and gifts and snacks in hand, they showed up on her doorstep.

In recalling the day, Larson said the extraordinary measures Bunting and Rogers took to make sure the reunion could occur endeared them not only to her but to her whole family. “They really love (Bunting and Rogers) because of the way they have honored me,” she said. “Sometimes you feel like you don’t deserve it, but I am so grateful.”

With the warmth of a teacher welcoming students into her classroom, Larson welcomed her former students into her home with shared tears and laughs and a flood of memories. The trio caught up on Larson’s deck with their own personal paparazzi present to capture the memories. Not that they would easily forget their precious time together.

“It was a day I’ll never forget,” Rogers said. “I went to bed smiling that night.”

For Larson the reunion was packed with emotion. Decades of teaching and a passion for inspiring lifelong learners made for a beautiful moment of seeing students as successful adults. “I was overwhelmed with joy,” Larson said. “For them to come and see me just meant so much to me.”

Bunting, Rogers and Larson continue their friendship through Facebook and plans for continued real-life reunions. Their time together comes easy and with genuine fondness — the kind of shared affection that truly lasts a lifetime.

While Bunting and Rogers are grateful for the impact Larson had on their lives all those years ago, and for their continued friendship with their former teacher — they know they are not alone in their gratefulness.

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“I know she made this impact on a lot of her students,” Rogers said. “I am blessed to call her my friend.”

Weeks after the June reunion, Bunting said she and Rogers received identical cards in the mail from Larson. Written in Larson’s perfectly neat penmanship, as only an elementary school teacher could write, she wrote of how much the day meant to her:

“I’m thankful God allowed our calendars and paths to align on June 11, giving us the opportunity to reignite our friendships and bond which began so many years ago,” she wrote. “Even though time has forged forward, and the person in the mirror has changed, our hearts have not.”

Sarah Nelson Katzenberger

is a displaced Californian who had no idea there were four seasons until she moved to Minnesota. She is a former missionary, law school drop-out, high school teacher and awardwinning journalist with the Brainerd Dispatch. She continues to write for local and national publications and provides unsolicited grammar correction as needed. Sarah lives in Brainerd with her husband Chad and their three baby Vikings, Ellis, Meredith and Truett.

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