Peggy Estey Grabbed Life And Is Making The Most Of It

Fresh out of West Valley High School, Peggy Estey chose children and marriage. Not college.

“When my friends came home from college,” she says, arms cradling an imaginary infant, “there I was with my baby in arms.”

That baby is 20 now and in college, with three siblings, 19, 13 and 6.

Today, it’s Estey’s turn to graduate. She’s earned a master’s degree in initial teaching from Gonzaga University. Chosen from the graduate students to speak at today’s ceremony, she will talk about personal character. She’ll quote Ralph Waldo Emerson, but she’ll be thinking of the high school freshmen in a class she teaches on personal and social responsibility.

“Those kids are amazing. They may not always make the right choices, but they have incredible insight,” Estey said.

Choosing the topic for her speech was not difficult. Writing it was.

“I’ve given it to every English teacher I know,” Estey said. “I told them to take their red pens and mark it up.”

Estey, 38, knows quite a few English teachers.

She worked for 11 years as a counseling secretary at West Valley High School. She did her student teaching at East Valley High School. Now, she is teaching a couple of periods a day at East Valley - and coaching girls softball at West Valley.

“You notice I whisper when I say that,” she said.

Given the rivalry between the two schools, it’s safe to say one would need mucho personal character to walk the fence.

Estey’s connection with West Valley runs deep.

When Estey landed her job at the high school, she was divorced, with three children and no college.

“I graduated from West Valley and I think that helped me,” she said. She started working toward her bachelor’s degree at Eastern Washington University. She got credit for her career experience, took night classes and counted on “responsible high school girls with cars” to help with child care.

Remarried and with a small child, Estey jumped in to get her master’s degree, knowing that her husband, her older children - “and my father-in-law, who’s been one of my biggest cheerleaders” - would help. Her schedule at Gonzaga was tough, with challenging classes four nights a week.

West Valley teachers encouraged her all the way, she said. She dedicated her master’s thesis to them, in appreciation.

At graduation today, the quote from Emerson she’ll use is:

“Make the most of yourself, because that is all there is of you.”

She might just as well tell the crowd her own story. Because that’s just what Peggy Estey has been doing with her life.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo