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Scouts show speed at Pinewood Derby in Kingston Township

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Behind the Business: Getting to know Will Beekman, executive director of the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts in Wilkes-Barre

An apple sits on Amy Rothschild&#8217;s desk at the middle school where she teaches integrated studies.Made of marble, the apple is not red and shiny as one might expect. It&#8217;s green and a bit worn.Yet it remains one of Rothschild&#8217;s most treasured possessions.The 46-year-old believes the apple, given to her by a retiring teacher, is reflective of her life.&#8220;It may not look like the apple on everyone else&#8217;s desk, but much like my life, it&#8217;s mine and I embrace it,&#8221; she said.As Rothschild teaches, she easily makes her way around the classroom, quick in her response to a student&#8217;s question or to point to an answer.Teaching - or life, for that matter &#8212; hasn&#8217;t always been this way.Life challenges Eleven years ago, in 2005, Rothschild couldn&#8217;t walk a straight line and didn&#8217;t know why.An avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan, she and her husband of 29 days, Dave, were watching a football game on television. When she stood up to walk, she couldn&#8217;t.&#8220;At first, I thought it was funny,&#8221; Rothschild said. &#8220;But within minutes, I collapsed and Dave took me to the hospital.&#8221;Rothschild had suffered a stroke.Although it brought both long- and short-term challenges, she refers to the stroke as her &#8220;second birth.&#8221;&#8220;I&#8217;ve never questioned why it happened to me,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It happened for a reason and now I am counting my blessings.&#8221;After the stroke, which affected the right side of her body, Rothschild required months of rehabilitation.Although she was physically impacted by the stroke, her inner vision remained steady.A journey backHer desire to be a mother continued.As a teacher, her love for students fueled her enthusiasm in the classroom, but she and Dave longed for children &#8212; a vision not dimmed by the knowledge that the stroke had made it too risky to give birth.The Rothschilds decided to look into adoption, originally hoping to be foster parents.When the much-anticipated phone call came, the voice on the other end said, &#8220;We have a family for you.&#8221;Laughing, Rothschild says, &#8220;I said, &#8216;Well, we&#8217;re not &#8216;Jon and Kate plus Eight,&#8217; but we can talk.&#8217;&#8221;On Feb. 14, 2009, the Rothschilds welcomed two sisters, Megan, then 2, and Mya, then 1, into their home.Cribs were bought, rooms painted pink, feeding schedules crafted.The fulfillment of Rothschild&#8217;s dream was fueled by her steady determination to provide the best possible life for the two little girls with whom she had fallen in love.&#8220;Even as a little girl, when other little girls were talking about the children they would have,&#8221; said Rothschild, &#8220;I told my mother, I&#8217;m going to adopt a little girl with blonde hair.&#8221;On that day in 2009, Rothschild believed she was truly doubly blessed.Twenty-one months later, the girls were officially adopted.Sharing her story Rothschild is willing, she said, to tell her story because she believes people should live their lives, move through challenges and raise their families, not only for themselves but as an inspiration to others.Although the residual effects from the stroke are minimal, she still has challenges.The right side of her body is numb, making it necessary for her to refrain from using her right hand when she is cooking.She doesn&#8217;t fully experience outdoor temperatures, so when dressing her children, she relies on weather reports and other people.&#8220;I might over or underdress my children if I relied on how hot or cold I felt,&#8221; she said.Admitting limitations and relying on others, Rothschild said, has made success possible.&#8220;It takes a village not only to raise a child, but to recover from illness to meet life&#8217;s challenges,&#8221; she said, crediting her doctors and rehabilitation staff with making her success possible.A resident of Mountain Top, Rothschild first returned to teaching in the Crestwood School District almost two years after her stroke because she was not able to drive.After the adoption of her children and able to drive again, Rothschild wanted to come full circle and return to Wyoming Valley West, the district in which she taught when she became ill. She reapplied to that district and was once again hired.&#8220;Every morning, I say &#8216;I am going to school,&#8217;&#8221; she said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t say &#8216;I&#8217;m going to work&#8217; because it doesn&#8217;t feel like work to me.&#8221;She credits other teachers with whom she works, the school board and the superintendent with providing a work environment she loves.Wyoming Valley West School Board Member Gary Evans, who was teaching at the middle school at the time Rothschild got sick, said she personifies a good teacher.&#8220;The students love her and she has their respect,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Always prepared, her classes run smoothly.&#8221;Evans said the mark of a good teacher is when a student says &#8220;hi&#8221; upon entering the classroom and &#8220;bye&#8221; when leaving.&#8220;That&#8217;s a mark of a good teacher,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It means the child has enjoyed the class and learned while they were there. Amy has that.&#8221;Continued successMya, now 8, and Megan, now 9, are thriving and continue to get along wonderfully, Rothschild said.She does point out that, in spite of similar appearances, the girls have different personalities.&#8220;Megan is very conservative; she lays out her outfit each night to put on the next day,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Mya, who loves her camouflage boots and furry vest, goes through several outfits each morning, making her way to the mirror to make a final choice.&#8220;They are inseparable. They&#8217;re supportive of each other and they share with each other. God gave me angels,&#8221; she said smiling, a happy tear making its way down the side of her face.The two are not just great children, Rothschild said, they&#8217;re great people.Always with gratitude As she looks back on her journey, Rothschild does it with gratitude to her mother, Mary Ellen Bonsall, a model for her as a parent, and a stronghold during adversity.&#8220;We used to teasingly call her June Cleaver,&#8221; she said. &#8220;She worked at night and was there for us during the day. I don&#8217;t know when she slept.&#8221;She also remains grateful for her family doctor, Dr. Ned Carey, whom she said, &#8220;ran every possible test until they found out was was wrong.&#8221;When asked about the commitment of her husband through adversity, she describes it as &#8220;unquestionable and absolute.&#8221;Rothschild views her life, even with its challenges, as a gift.A recent school day found Rothschild in her basement classroom surrounded by students and photos of family, looking forward to celebrating Megan&#8217;s birthday and the winter season.Life for the teacher who has challenged adversity and won is good.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West Middle School teacher Amy Rothschild with some of her students, from left, Abby Coburn, Grace Van Orden; Robert Pradel, Emily Kocher, Alison Newhart, Gregory Solomon, Kyla Barber and Alyssa Sims. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL011316amyteacher-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wyoming Valley West Middle School teacher Amy Rothschild with some of her students, from left, Abby Coburn, Grace Van Orden; Robert Pradel, Emily Kocher, Alison Newhart, Gregory Solomon, Kyla Barber and Alyssa Sims. </caption0><photoCredit0>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL011316amyteacher2-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West Middle School teacher Amy Rothschild talks with some of her students recently. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL011316amyteacher2-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wyoming Valley West Middle School teacher Amy Rothschild talks with some of her students recently. </caption1><photoCredit1>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Amy Rothschild&#8217;s road back to WVW Middle School</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Geri Gibbonsggibbons@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Geri Gibbons at 570-991-6117 or on Twitter @TLGGibbons</shirttailMeta></div>

Wyoming Valley West Middle School teacher Amy Rothschild overcomes adversity to return to the classroom