Teacher, student reunite in Omaha 41 years later over love of gardening | Home and Garden

OMAHA — One student can stick in a teacher’s mind even 41 years after they shared a classroom.

For Beth Hudson, who taught fourth grade at Miller Park Elementary School in 1979-80, that student is Clark “Ace” Williams. Hudson, who works as a librarian in Walla Walla, Washington, and Williams reunited Monday at Omaha Permaculture near 41st and Grand Streets, where he works as a landscaper and beekeeper.

“I’ve wondered about him for over 40 years now,” Hudson said as rain fell outside. “It was the only year that I ever taught school because I went on to get my master’s degree and work in libraries, but if you gave me a class picture, I think that I could name most of those students.”

Williams stood out, Hudson said, partly because she remembers his reaction to seeing a blooming amaryllis plant in the classroom. As her students admired the plant, Hudson noticed tears welling up in Williams’ eyes.

She told the story in a Facebook post after a friend posted a picture of another amaryllis flower.

“A friend just posted a picture of her beautiful amaryllis in full bloom. It reminded me of when I taught fourth grade at Miller Park Elementary School in Omaha Nebraska,” she wrote. “It was kind of a rough neighborhood by many standards but I found so much love among those little cuties with their curious minds and beautiful open hearts. Teachers aren’t supposed to have favorites but Clark Williams was my favorite. His family’s nickname for him was ‘Ace’ and his previous teacher had refused to call him that in the classroom.

“I thought it was a cute name for a cute kid and happily called him that. I will never forget when we came back from (Christmas) break and the amaryllis was in full bloom. As I looked around the room. I noticed that Ace was crying. He told me he’d never seen anything so beautiful. I think he would be in his 50s now. I hope he’s doing well.”

Touched by Hudson’s post, friends urged her to look for that long-ago fourth grader. She searched his name on the internet and a story popped up on the NOISE website about Williams’ work with Omaha Permaculture, a North Omaha-based nonprofit that takes unused parcels of land from across the city and transforms them into spaces where community members can grow their own food.

“The minute I saw him, the beekeeper, I could see the little boy in his face,” Hudson said. “I would have known him anywhere.”

Hudson emailed Gus von Roen, the founder of Omaha Permaculture, to ask whether Williams had been a fourth grade student at Miller Park Elementary. She wanted von Roen to tell “Ace” his fourth grade teacher thinks about him.

Williams, 51, said he was shocked when von Roen told him about Hudson’s email.

“Gus had kind of this weird look on his face when he came to me and asked if I had been in fourth grade at Miller Park,” Williams said. “Then he told me that my old teacher was looking for me and gave me her phone number.”

Student and teacher soon began talking a few times on the phone, and a reunion was arranged over the Fourth of July holiday, when Hudson would be visiting her mother. As the two embraced under a drizzly sky, four decades were swept away as easily as a broom wipes off a few cobwebs.

Williams presented Hudson with two jars of fresh honey that he’d harvested from beehives behind the building. Hudson, he said, had been that special teacher many people have in their lives.

“Fourth grade was a great experience,” he said. “Miller Park was a rough neighborhood, but she was always so caring and so nice to us. I do remember there were always flowers and things that made her classroom special.”

Hudson learned that those special touches took root in Williams. He studied architectural drafting at Metro Community College and completed a four-year course in carpentry offered by the Omaha Housing Authority before joining Omaha Permaculture, where he builds chicken coops, tends beehives and keeps up the grounds of its gardens.

Hudson also learned that Williams is committed to helping North Omaha residents eat healthier. North Omaha, he told her, is a food desert where residents have fewer healthy choices, leaving them more susceptible to illness.

The student became the teacher during their phone calls, Hudson said.

“I think that (Williams) is a natural teacher,” she said. “During our first phone call, I learned about North Omaha being a food desert because of not having enough fresh vegetables. He also taught me that after every third bite of food, you should thank a bee because of their work as pollinators.”

Inspired by Williams’ lessons, Hudson said she has changed her yard in Walla Walla to be more welcoming to pollinators. Instead of a manicured lawn, she’s now surrounded by natural plants, shrubs and flowers.

As the rain let up, Williams led a tour of the grounds at Omaha Permaculture, as he often does for organizations such as Girls Inc. He showed off the chicken coops that he builds so people can get fresh eggs and the beehives that provide such sweet honey.

Working around as many as 500,000 bees, he said, is relaxing, even with the occasional stings. Williams’ 9-year-old daughter, Aaliyah Porter, often works alongside him.

“I sometimes tell my daughter, Aaliyah, that I got a few ‘kisses’ from the bees today,” he said. “Listen, if my daughter can do this, anyone can. You just need to learn how.”