Woman in her 44th year as a nursery school teacher.(St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

ST. LOUIS, Mo. _ Frances Brownstein sits cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by more than a dozen 3-year-olds, all seemingly transfixed, listening to what this 80-year-old woman has to say, or sometimes sing.

Brownstein, the mother of three and grandmother of six, is an educational ageless wonder. She has been a fixture at the Jewish Community Center's preschool operation for 37 years, working the Purple Room and the Pumpkin Room. Before that, she spent seven years at Washington University's preschool on Millbrook Boulevard, beginning there after her last child, daughter Nancy, started kindergarten.

Today, she arrives at the JCC's Wohl Building before 8 a.m. and is around until noontime. She begins by helping feed the wee ones their morning milk, biscuits and bowls of fruit. Then she joins them on the floor for "circle time," which means arranging puzzles, or moving to a table to work with Play-Doh.

"Where, oh where, is Abby Cohen?" she says in a melodic tone, as she often sings the roll call. "Jason, are you ready? Your name is Morgan? Good, I remembered that. You'll have to help me remember."

Later that morning, when a little girl begins holding her side, apparently not feeling well, Brownstein kneels down beside her and rubs her tummy. "Feel better now?" she asks.

The ...