It's one thing to sit at a desk and answer test questions; it's quite another to sit in front of a crowded auditorium and answer questions during a competition.

As Palmerton Middle School's ACE (Academic Excellence) team of eighth-graders prepared for the competition, they held out hope that their teacher, Patti Jo Boyd, would return to school in time to help them.Boyd had been involved with the school's ACE teams for 13 years.But on Nov. 17, 2014, while sitting in her vehicle at a red light at Route 248, she was hit from behind by a vehicle traveling at 40 mph."I had a concussion and memory loss," Boyd recalled. "I was out of school for a week, and was having different kinds of trouble."One of the most noticeable changes in her life was her demeanor.Her maiden name is "Smiley" and it fit. She was known for her upbeat expressions."But after the accident I had no facial expression, and there was no laughing," Boyd recalled. "My life changed in one moment."Boyd came late to teaching. She's the daughter of New Yorkers who traded the big-city life for a farm near the Monroe County line.Boyd remembers taking care of cows, chickens, sheep and a huge garden. At 16, she got a summer job at a sewing factory in Little Gap.After high school, she got a job as a waitress, and through hard work, got a position at Caesar's Pocono Resort, where she ran activities for couples on retreats, and ran the nightclub there at night.She was a member of Our Lady Queen of Peace Church in Brodheadsville, and helped teach Sunday school."Then I got my own class, 60 kids, and it seemed that I had a knack for teaching," she said."I really liked teaching them, and they really liked class.""I was 36 before I knew I wanted to go to college and become a teacher," she said. "But I knew that if I wanted to go to college, I needed money."She launched Patti Jo Productions."I would go out DJ-ing every weekend, and I did that for five years," she said. "That's what paid for my college education."She started at Lehigh Carbon Community College and finished at East Stroudsburg University, graduating summa cum laude."I hadn't been a serious student when I was in high school," she said."But when I went to college I was a good student; I was determined that I would never look back and never stop."She taught at Panther Valley Middle School for two years before getting hired as language arts teacher for eighth grade at Palmerton.She also does one-on-one counseling and Bible study at Bethany U.C. Church in Tamaqua.She and her husband, Steve, have been married for 22 years."After the accident, when I was home, I missed being around people and my students," she said."I'd think of them and I was determined to be back for them."Her team took second to Northwestern Lehigh Middle School in the annual competition.Students and their parents were thrilled to have her back.That night, as the team posed for a picture, it was plain to see that her smile was back.That's because she was back where she wanted to be, teaching."At that age, the students really need to know that there's someone who really cares about them," she said. "I like to look for the gifts that are in each one of them.""I think it's important to give each one of them hope," she said. "I want them to believe there's more to you than you know."