Woman Found Dead In Woods Officially Identified

Agnes Kocher

By CHRIS BJORKE cbjorke@leader.net
 Monday, November 19, 2001 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1A 





WILKES-BARRE - Dorothy Wivell will not accept defeat. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She may have to yell, tease, cajole, throw things around or employ snakes,
birds and iguanas, but her students will learn. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ``You have to go to great lengths,'' said the 32-year Wilkes-Barre Area
teacher. ``A child who's asleep can't learn.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Wivell is a high-energy, high-decibel Meyers High School biology teacher
who dreads retirement, the keeper of a small classroom menagerie of reptiles,
fish and a bird, an unrelenting motivator and the favorite teacher of many
students. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``Some of them hate me. Some are my best buddies. To some I'm a fixture and
to some I'm just the crazy lady with all the animals.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A Wivell class can resemble a loud exhortation in a pet store or
biology-themed role-playing. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In a typical class, Wally the cockatiel may be perched on a student's
shoulder, Baby the iguana patrols another student's desk and Wheezie the ball
python will be passed between students while Wivell uses every trick she can
muster to get students to learn about cytology, or the study of cells. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Last week, she had one of her classes throw a rock out of the room to
demonstrate how a cell processes protein. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``The rock was a protein,'' she explained. ``The kids passed the rock
because they were the Golgi. They process, package and secrete ... I'm the
nucleus, because I have to be the control center. I have to be in control.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 If that seems confusing, it is not to her students, who seem to pick up on
the energy she invests into her teaching, and yes, actually learn something. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``Miss Wivell is a great teacher, probably the best teacher in the
school,'' said Rob West, a slightly rambunctious student, during a class. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``If you think that's getting you an A, you're very much mistaken,'' Wivell
told Rob. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``It was worth a shot.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Like most good teachers, Wivell remembers a teacher who inspired her. But
she also remembers a teacher who had the opposite effect. Wivell was not a
motivated student. One of her teachers allowed students who did not want to
learn to sit in the back, do nothing and receive Ds, which she did. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``Today I resent him for that,'' Wivell said. ``He was being paid to make
me learn. He shouldn't have given me a choice.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 As a teacher, she will not give students the option to fail. She especially
likes the kids who need extra prodding to learn something. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``I was one of those kids,'' she said. ``The A kids always have someone
praising them.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Meyers principal Bob Okrasinski praised Wivell for her dedication toward
students. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``The foremost concern in her mind is the students,'' he said. ``If it
needs to be done and it helps kids, Dorothy is always the first to volunteer
for it.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Wivell's latest volunteer project is organizing parents and students in a
Science Olympiad team at Meyers. At the end of a stressful day recently, she
was tired, but perked up when she began talking about her plans for the
extracurricular science competition. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``She's a really committed person. It's not an 8 to 3:30 job to her,'' said
Wilkes-Barre Area Superintendent Jeff Namey. ``Kids do well with her.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 After teaching for more than three decades, Wivell, 53, is worried about
changes in teacher pension plans, which encourage teachers to retire by
including a financial penalty in their pension calculations if they teach more
than 35 years. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``The bet (among colleagues) is I don't go,'' she said, afraid she would be
bored without her students. ``The trouble is I enjoy them.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Chris Bjorke, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7139. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

'crazy Lady With Animals' Has The Teaching Bug 
Dorothy Wivell's High-energy Act Is Motivated By One Thing: Getting Her Meyers
High School Students To Learn About Biology.

'crazy Lady With Animals' Has The Teaching Bug Dorothy Wivell's High-energy Act Is Motivated By One Thing: Getting Her Meyers High School Students To Learn About Biology.