Jill Tucker:

When Carol Prater started what she thought would be a few years teaching at Burlingame elementary schools, she had a master’s degree in music and a talent for math and technology, never imagining a career of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” and “Hot Cross Buns” played out of tune and off key.

It was 1972 and Donny Osmond was singing about puppy love and the average family had a choice of three television channels, with “The Mod Squad” and “The Waltons” in a fierce battle for Thursday nights.