This summer was my 30th high school reunion, which unfortunately I was unable to attend. But, I am a member of our high school group on FaceBook and much of the discussion since the event has been about teachers and our education. One person listed her teachers along with the school nurse. Wow, what a memory! I almost remember my teachers’ names. Unfortunately, I do not remember all of my teachers. I also do not remember everyone in my classes over the years, but I have had fun trying to remember people in the pictures that are posted. While all of this has been taking place, I have begun thinking about the impact certain teachers and events have had on my life.
One teacher that I comes to my mind is Ms. Crabtree. In the sixth grade, I thought I had met the meanest teacher in the world. Her rules in the class were extremely strict and her tests were out of this world. I remember failing history tests, not by just a little but a whole lot. Really I thing she felt sorry for me and passed me to the seventh grade. I had never encountered such difficulties in school. I was always an A student, until her class. One of the impacts that she had on my life was learning to learn. Ms. Crabtree knew she was a hard teacher, but she also knew what it took to prepare her students for the next steps in life. One subject that I did well in her class was grammar. She taught us to diagram sentences, which we all wondered why. Many of us was complain, yet I learned more that year in English probably than any other year. Ms. Crabtree’s insistence of teaching us diagramming prepared me for not only high school English, but also my Greek classes in college as well as seminary. I actually had the opportunity to go back and thank her for that experience.
Many of my other teachers were equally as good as teachers, but I think Ms. Crabtree had the biggest influence on my learning experience because she was the first one that was that hard. Many of my teachers cared about me. My elementary music teacher, Mrs. Youngblood, went to my church and really helped me learn how to sing. She even helped me some after school. Mrs. Cary, my math teacher in 6th and 7th grades, prepared me for the future classes. She knew my dad, which helped me stay in line. That is until she had back surgery and my best friend and I switched names for 6 weeks. We would have gotten away with it, but I had an orthodontist appointment one day during math class. That was not a good thing.
I could continue about several of my high school teachers, ranging from my English teachers to my coaches. Each teacher had a different impact on my life. I have to admit that some of the impacts were not as positive as others. I thank God for my days in the Nederland ISD.
The reason for me to write about my former school days and some of my memories is to point out to all the teachers that will be starting back to school in the next week or so, you are making impacts on your students lives. I remember when we moved from Bay City to Texarkana, my wife was asked by one of her students ‘what am I going to do know? You are the only English teacher I have passed.’. It wasn’t that she was so easy, but rather he wanted to work for her because he knew she cared. Teachers, let me ask you a question. Do you care about your students? Do they know you care? Many of the students in our school systems today have very little support at home. These students do not have discipline in their lives, nor do they truly know love. I wonder if as a teacher you could ask God to give you a special amount of grace for your students this year. My wife has been teaching for almost 20 years and it gets more difficult each year. Having to teach toward standardized tests is a major hassle, I realize that. As students, we were thought to think for ourselves. We were not taught to regurgitate information. One more question, why did you get into teaching in the first place? I bet it was to make an impact on future generations. I believe the only true impact comes from showing God’s love to people. Will the teachers share that love this year?
If you are not a teacher, will you join me in praying for our teachers to have God’s love for their students? School is so important, as are our teachers. Let’s join together to help make this impact.