Photo by Skip Lawrence Jessica Brown, Ballenger Creek Elementary physical education teacher, is seen with fourth-grader Paige DeAntonio recently.

After teaching for 40 years -- the last 19 at Ballenger Creek Elementary School -- she has taught countless brothers and sisters, children of former students and even her own relatives. At Ballenger Creek she counts three former students among her colleagues and this year is teaching her granddaughter.

"I'd like to work three more years because my granddaughter's in second grade, so she has three more years," Brown said over the din of students practicing "magic ball" in the gym.

Brown's desire to teach was rooted in the one-room segregated school she attended in Woodford, Va., where she had the same teacher from first through sixth grades.

"I idolized my elementary school teacher and knew that's what I wanted to do," she said.

Her aspirations changed slightly upon entering high school.

"Ruth Brown was my physical education teacher and inspired me to become a phys-ed teacher," Brown said.

After receiving her bachelor's degree from Virginia State University, Brown landed a teaching position in Rahway, N.J., where she stayed for three years before accepting a job with Montgomery County Public Schools.

She has established a habit of opening new schools. She was on the inaugural staffs of Thomas S. Wooten High and Robert Frost Junior High schools in Montgomery County.

Brown came to Frederick County Public Schools in 1975. She has been at Ballenger Creek Elementary since it opened in 1991.

"I've been here so long, it's like home to me," Brown said. "I don't come to work each day, I come home."

Parent Conchita King, at Ballenger Creek for a recent after-school activity, could not heap enough praise on the teacher she's known for years.

"She's an outstanding teacher -- she knows all the kids and all the parents," King said. "And she always has a smile on her face."

During a recent class, students were busy with magic ball, a throwing and catching program that teaches hand-eye coordination, opposition throwing and clean catching, Brown said. The progressive program is for students of all grades and abilities.

She still laments the removal of kickball and dodge ball from the school program.

"Kickball was taken out because they don't want there to be outs, and they don't want the kids switching sides," Brown said. "And they took dodge ball out because they don't want the kids to be targets."

If kids don't learn how to lose and how to fail as youngsters, Brown fears they never will.

"Kids need to know they aren't always going to win -- they need to know there will be rejection and failure in their lives," she said. "But you have to tell them to keep practicing, to try, try, try again and to keep developing a good work ethic."

Brown said she has been around long enough to watch the trend pendulum swing back and forth and back again. Physical education teachers were told for a time to incorporate more reading to support the academic curriculum. Now, in light of heart disease and obesity striking more children, the emphasis on physical activity is increased.

"This year is move, move, move," Brown said. "They come through the door and they're moving."

About 50 children come to school early each Tuesday morning to participate in Brown's Running Club.

"And these kids come every Tuesday because they want to," she said. "I don't give them any treats -- no stickers, no certificates, nothing -- they're here because they like to run."

Brown said she is part of a team at Ballenger Creek, where everyone pitches in to help wherever needed.

"It's a good group here, and I hope to stay here until I retire," she said. "It has been a truly wonderful journey."