Take Your Parent to School Day reunites teacher, former student

Ridgefield — Karen Stolberg was excited for Take Your Parent to School Day at Union Ridge Elementary School. Stolberg visited her granddaughter’s second-grade class, which is taught by Sara Eastham. Stolberg was Eastham’s third-grade teacher at South Ridge Elementary School. It was one of Stolberg’s first classes in her 34-year tenure teaching in Ridgefield. She was excited that her former student became a teacher, according to a release from the district. “We’ve stayed in touch all these years,” Stolberg said in the release. “I’m so proud of her.” Eastham remembered going to visit Stolberg’s home, as Stolberg would take groups of four or five students home — with parental permission — as a reward for doing well in class. When Eastham became a teacher, she created a similar reward activity she calls Secret Lunch, where students can have lunch with her in the classroom instead of the cafeteria.