GUILDERLAND — "Who can turn the world on with her smile"" played the theme song from the popular seventies sitcom. "Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile""

Mary Zwagerman outshone Mary Tyler Moore with her radiance as, grinning from ear to ear, she was escorted by pairs of students from each classroom down the center of the Guilderland Elementary School gym last Friday.

The children, hundreds of them, had assembled to pay tribute to their school nurse.
Before Zwagerman’s grand entrance, fourth-grade teacher Rory Davis, told the children, "Somebody at our school helps every one of us out...How many of you have been to Mrs. Zwagerman’s office""
Most of the kids raised their hands, some of them were waving wildly. Davis went on to prep the kids to participate in a poem he would recite. Pointing to his colorful Band-Aid-strewn necktie, he wanted them to chorus "ice packs and Band-Aids" whenever he pointed to his tie. The kids shouted the refrain with volume and glee.
As Zwagerman made her entrance, Davis said, "You help us out at our very worst times and yet you always have a smile on your face."
Davis went on to recite his poem, which included a description of the nurse’s repertoire with such creative couplets as, "A bucket to puke in when we’re feeling sick, a really cool tool to remove a tick."
Then pairs of children — a set from each classroom — presented Zwagerman with giant paper sunflowers. "You are our sunshine because...," said the center of each flower, while the surrounding yellow petals told of Zwagerman’s many virtues.
"Mrs. Kirk’s class says, ‘You are our sunshine because you are always there for us,’" said one student, presenting the flower.
"We hope you never retire," said an earnest little boy in glasses.

One by one, the flowers were placed in paper pots lining the stage.

A girl sitting next to Zwagerman offered her a tissue as she wept on hearing the heartfelt words — still smiling through her tears.
Then, pictures of Zwagerman, always with a smile, even as she administered an eye test, flashed on a screen as the kids sang along, "You are the sunshine of my life. We hope you’ll always be around."
"Your smile is infectious and so is your giving and caring," said Principal Dianne Walshhampton.
Wayne Bertrand, the district’s athletic and health director, proclaimed it was "a very special day for a very special person."

Zwagerman’s husband, Peter, clapped along with the kids, as did their daughter, Kaitlyn, a sophomore at Union College. Their son, Peter, a sophomore at Guilderland High School, was in class.
"She really just puts a lot of energy into whatever she does," said her husband afterwards. "She loves the kids. She was very touched by it all."
Finally, at the end of the assembly, Zwagerman, still smiling, spoke. "Thank you for making me feel so special and so loved," she said. "I love this school and I love my staff and I love all of you children who bring me so much love and joy."

Her words were greeted with a gym full of hoots and hollers and very loud clapping.