Who do you remember?

Who do you remember? 10/15/2009

There are a few solid reasons behind my decision to teach. The first would be my very good memories of few fantastic teachers that had an influence on me. Looking back, I am truly grateful to have had such good fortune. Their guidance and mentorship contributed to my sense of being socially aware and giving back to the community. Some names that have drifted in and out of my mind over the past few decades include Mr. Campbell, who read the “Soup” series to us with just as much enthusiasm in his voice in June as he had in September. I remember him as a fair man who wore a sport coat and tie every day. He brought his lunch in a brown paper bag and would nibble a bit here and there. He consistently offered a ready smile when we had questions or comments about our assignments. Mr. Barra was the middle school principal who made me feel important with his handshake and even called me into his office one winter morning after I had a fight with my brother at home before school. My homeroom teacher had noticed that I wasn’t myself and was still agitated and saddened, so she sent me downstairs. I wasn’t in trouble but she thought I could use a minute with the big man who wore a suit to work. He took the time to share a story or two about his brothers and how fist fight or not, they still loved each other. “Fighting among brothers isn’t anything new” he told me. He told me that “everything will work out” and it did. Another figure of strength for me was Ms. Mussard, my English teacher at Willis Middle School. She came prepared to share everyday even while losing her battle to cerebral palsy. The disease had made her speech very difficult to understand but she didn’t care, not in the least. The prevailing thought among students was if it doesn’t bother her, why should it bother us? It was a strong life message about persistence and courage. She walked and spoke with great effort around the classroom as she distributed work and engaged us in conversation. She would often stop her sentence short, repeating words that she couldn’t get out the first time. There was a life size cardboard cut out of Tom Selleck from Magnum P.I. fame front and center in her class. She would joke with us that he was her husband as she carefully placed a shaking arm around the prop. “He just doesn’t know it yet”, she told us. She was great. They were great.

Comments

Heather Y.

10/18/2009 6:50pm

Thanks for sharing. It's amazing how a handful of folks could have played a role in shaping our futures. Personally, I didn't really have connections with teachers like that since we moved and changed schools so many times. I would have liked those memories.

Megan Freeman

10/22/2009 4:45pm

It's funny, actually. Just the other day in my history class, we had a substitute teacher with cerebral palsy. He had a speech impediment and he often got tripped up on himself. At one point during the class, he had to step outside to cough. As soon as he left the class began laughing and unable to control their fits of giggles. It made me angry. When he came back in and was trying to explain how the status of women in 16th century Europe, he was so adamant and excited about the topicc, I couldn't help but smile. Even though he
probably knew that the other kids had been laughing. After all, he was just ooutside the door. And as soon as he left again, I said to them, "I hope you aall feel awful." I won't forget him.

Tony

10/22/2009 5:24pm

Meg-

It seems like there were several lessons being shared in your classroom the other day. Thanks for speaking up.

Eric Mahaffey

10/25/2009 7:24am

Hey Tony,

Great post; there are many teachers that have influenced me growing up. In 7th grade I had Mr. Barbari for science. I can assure you he was the least liked teacher in middle school, but that doesn't detract from his influence. Mr. Barbari's classroom was always kept in a specific manner. There were two students to a table, you had assigned seats, and it never changed. The shades were always drawn shut, so no day dreaming out those windows, instead you could sit and watch the clock by the door slowly tick an hour away. Considering he spoke in such a monotone voice, the tick of the second hand as it went around the dial was almost as interesting.

You might be wondering why I chose Mr Barbari to respond about here, but I assure you I have a point. One day after a test Mr. Barbari came in and talked to us about how disappointed he was in us, not our grades, but us. Unnoticed by us, on the day of the test, Mr. Barbari had crumbled a piece of paper up and toss it fairly close to the door where all of us walked by it on the way in and out of the classroom. He told us that next day that had any of us picked it up and looked at it we would have seen we got an A on our test just for picking it up.

Maybe he wasn't playing with a full deck of cards, but I know I took an important lesson away from this. Be sure to be observant of your surroundings. Take the time pick-up the things around you, it may not get you an A on a test but it's the right thing to do regardless who's watching.

I've had a few other teachers that I feel have had an influence on me; this just happened to be a vivid memory that I conjured to mind when I read your post.

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