The little girl wasn't quite getting it, but Mary Hall was in no hurry.

"Try that, you think?" Mary prompted with an easy smile as the girl fuddled to fit cups together one way, then another. "How about this?"

A few moments of mismatches, of shoulders drooping in frustration, and suddenly the container puzzle was complete. The preschooler lifted up wide eyes at Hall with a gleeful smile.

It's what Hall, after 31 years at Noah's Ark Learning Center, calls an "ah-ha" moment.

"Good job!" the teacher declared, eyebrows raised as she launched into applause.

It's the pending discoveries around the corner, students grasping a new word or learning a new number, that Hall said has kept her glued to the learning center in Coeur d'Alene, which she helped start in 1981 and has taught at since.

Retiring next week, Halls knows what will be the hardest to leave behind.

"I'm going to miss the kids," the Hayden woman said. "I've been getting the children of children I've taught before over the last few years. It's exciting."

The tidy preschool with a spacious playground on 15th Street is there because of Hall.

Over 30 years ago she just was a favorite helper in local schools, assisting teachers when needed.

Her role expanded when preschool teachers experienced overflow. They asked if Hall would teach some of them in her own home.

"They wanted the children to have more opportunities than sitting and watching TV," she said, adding that there were few preschool options back then. "It started off with three or four teachers, and then I kept getting calls, and I thought, 'Oh no. There needs to be some place for the kids to learn and be safe.'"

Hall raised her concerns to leaders at her church, Emmanuel Baptist, who eventually agreed on establishing a Christian-based preschool.

Naturally, the church asked her to teach.

"I was happy with what I was doing, but my husband said, 'This might be a good ministry for you,'" said Hall, 65. "And I'm still here, 31 years later."

She has done more than just teach kids, said school Director Kim Kibby, though over 460 preschool students have learned ABCs and bible stories in Hall's classroom.

Hall has also taught conferences for other educators and trained Vacation Bible School teachers across the Northwest.

"She's always been one of my mentors," said Kibby, who had attended Hall's class when she was 4 years old. "Her dedication to young children and her ministering, it's made a huge impact."

On Thursday morning, Hall stopped to show a student how to zip his jacket before outdoor playtime.

"Some of the new kinds are hard," she noted.

Even before obtaining her Child Development Associate about 25 years ago, Hall said her teaching method has always been built on patience, on guiding each child in the way they learn best.

It's successful, she said, adding that most of her students can already count to 100 and rattle off their ABCs.

"And they're going into kindergarten," she said proudly.

Some memories still stand out after 31 years. Like one student who could name all the world's countries and who, Hall confessed, she had no idea what else to teach him.

"Then it was as if God said, 'He doesn't know who I am,'" she said. "So I taught him to pray."

There have been close connections to families, too. Hall has accompanied some parents to doctor visits for support, she said.

"Whatever they need to get better help and allow their kids to accomplish all they can. Because they deserve that," she said.

Fellow Noah's Ark teacher Debbie Baeumel said parents have consulted with Hall about their children's health and progress years after the kids left her classroom.

"She's just very caring about each child," Baeumel said. "She has an impact not only on the little ones, but the adults, too."

The children in Hall's class show distinct progress, said Shannon Kline, whose son is in Hall's class.

"We love her," she said. "She's very warm and loving in her teaching."

Hall had been asked to be director of the school in the past, she said, but she turned it down, content to remain a teacher.

She plans on spending retirement hunting and camping with her husband, Eldon, she said. They will also visit with their four grown children and six, soon to be seven, grandchildren.

Her retirement party is scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 20 at the Noah's Ark Learning Center. Former students and their families are encouraged to attend.

Late on Thursday morning, Hall gathered her students to practice a Mother's Day song.

The children's eyes fixed on her as she stood in front, directing their sign language.

"Thank you for reading to me, thank you for singing to me," they sang as they hugged their arms and mimicked reading a book.

For the final verse, Hall pointed at the children, their small fingers pointing back.

"Thank you for loving me," they crooned. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."