Patty Flakne

Patty Flakne

An "Absolute Gift" to Children

"That sparkle! That energy! When I first met her I thought she looked just like Jessica Lange. As I got to know her, I realized that she’s just as beautiful on the inside."That’s what Lower School Dean and instructor Alice Wright had to say about her colleague, Lower School Media Generalist Patty Flakne.

Her three children, all Breck graduates, started here in 1983. “I love the fact that I’m in a place where my kids were so happy," she says. “I have a job I love, wonderful friends and great parental memories all at the same time."

She began here as a substitute teacher and spent time in both first and second grade classrooms before former Lower School Director Audrey Goldfarb asked her to fill in at the Lower School library. “I fell in love with it," Patty says. “I’ve always had a passion for children’s books. There simply couldn’t be a finer job."

Her colleagues are among her biggest fans. “If you want to know anything about children’s books, the best source in town is in our Lower School Media Center," says Lower School Director Peg Bailey. Media Center assistant Cindy Cady says, “I have found Patty to be an absolute gift to Breck children and parents alike with her knowledge of literature and enthusiasm to truly promote and enhance the love of reading for all children."

As might be expected, Patty has enduring fondness for some of the classics of children’s literature, especially her all-time favorite, Charlotte’s Web. But one of the most fulfilling parts of her job, she says, is finding literature to support Breck’s efforts to build a library of books that support the multicultural curriculum initiative. “Children’s books today are so much more diverse and gender-balanced,"she observes. “And it’s such a growing market. “Patty’s multicultural moments at team meetings in Lower School have introduced teachers to such good multicultural literature," says Peg Bailey. Adds Alice Wright: “She’s been buying incredible books. It’s so wonderful to have a library filled with books that have pictures of so many different faces."

When she’s not at Breck, Patty naturally spends a lot of her free time reading. But she’s also passionate about movies, antiquing, gardening, swimming, golfing and crossword puzzles. A former runner who completed the Twin Cities Marathon in 1997, Patty says she’s become more of a walker these days. Her husband Jim is a CPA and legendary Breck athletics fan. “He’s hardly missed a Breck hockey game,"she laughs.

Among the highlights of her Breck career to date, Patty counts her summer grant experience on a children’s literature tour of England as something especially exciting. But mostly, she's happy in the library.

“The library is Patty’s love,"says Alice Wright. “She’s made it into such a warm, cozy, inviting place. I wish she’d be available to decorate my house the same way."