Thank a teacher
Diane Wilhite
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
I ADMIRE teachers. This admiration comes from many years of observing this group of professionals who persevere in spite of the obstacles continually put in their path by education “experts,” legislators, school boards, administrators, parents and unwilling students. Their paperwork is endless, their time to get everything done is limited and what is required of them is overwhelming and continuously increased. And yet, they persevere.
They spend a large amount of time after school and on weekends doing what needs to be done to help their students learn and be successful. They spend their own money on supplies and teaching materials because they know what is needed to get the job done, and they don’t always get what they need from the obvious sources. And yet, they persevere. These are professional people with college degrees who are not paid like the professionals they are, and who are often criticized by the public they serve. In spite of everything that is heaped and dumped upon them, they persevere because they know that their job is an important one. They persevere because they care deeply for the students they teach, and they want those students to achieve and succeed in life. They do the job they are asked to do, day after day, year after year, because they willingly accept the responsibility that goes along with being a teacher.
Teachers live for those rewarding moments of success and learning with their students that make all the work and time they have invested worthwhile. All teachers really need from anyone else is support and some appreciation for what they do. A simple “thank you,” given on any day, is always appreciated. May 8, was National Teachers Day. If you missed it, take the opportunity now to let all teachers know how much their efforts are appreciated.
bdprotheroe (anonymous) says...
As a student in Emporia (many years ago), I had terrific teachers. Every so often, I flip through the old yearbooks and get a chance to see their smiling faces again. At Village Elementary School, I had the honor of being a student of; Mrs. Judy Ehrlich, Mrs. Ann Pool, Mrs. Lynne Resch, Mrs. Gloria Hastings, Mr. Rob Ferree and Mrs. Claudia Worcester. There were so many great teachers that followed during my tenure at Lowther Middle School and Emporia High School, but a few stand out; Mrs. Ann Eldridge, Mrs. Linda Clark, Ms. Catherine Brown, Mr. Jay Adkins and Ms. Karen Myers.
Thanks to all for being inspirational, and dedicated to the profession of teaching!
Brian Protheroe
San Francisco, CA
May 17, 2007 at 3:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MelissaE (anonymous) says...
B--here is my list of great teachers (and no wonder we're friends, btw, look how many classes we shared!):
K--Mrs. Ehrlich (show and tell was great!)
1--Mrs. Jameson (she had the best desk accessories)
2--Mrs. Resch (our pretend plane flights to everywhere)
3--Mrs. Wright (she put up with a lot of crap)
4--Mrs. Barr (she read Where the Red Fern Grows & cried with us)
5--Mrs. Quinlan (I was an awful child that year!)
6--Mrs. Fischer (LOVED HER)
7--This is where we all divided into teams & had different teachers.....But 2 stand out for me: Mrs. Eldridge & Ms. Taylor.
Mrs. Eldridge is a wonderful person, lively and had so much insight--her class was always a highlight.
Ms. Taylor: Scared the bejeezus out of me but I learned how to do math! And to this day, I remember how to divide fractions because of her. I'd love to sit and chat with her now.
Mr. Adkins: Another great teacher.....and a highlight of the day.
Melissa
May 17, 2007 at 3:39 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
bdprotheroe (anonymous) says...
Ms. Taylor was a wonderful teacher, too. Would you believe I ran into her here in SF, last summer. She was visiting the City for a conference. I thought she looked familiar, and thus I asked, "Is your name Ms. Taylor?" Although it had been 20 since I was in her classroom, she recognized me. Her response to my inquiry was classic, "OH MY WORD!"
The best teachers never forget their students!
May 17, 2007 at 5:50 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
barbara61 (anonymous) says...
Not all teachers are that great anymore. Most are at meetings all day and paras are doing there job or there living on there computers and dont find time for nothing but there diet coke on there desk. If every teacher was doing all of that our schools in America would not suck at the level they do. The kids would not address them as the" B" word constantly if they were that great. There are some extremely rude people in these schools with many issues of there own. Especially the woman teachers they bring all of there baggage to school. If there pregnant all of there hormones come with them. If it is that time of the month there attitude comes to the class room. Dont forget the control freaks that have to milk every issue out for all its worth and make a problem 3 times worser then it needed to be. They know they can get by with it. The kid will always be blamed, these people take NO responsibility for there rudeness are there issues. I have had boys tell me they hate woman teachers because they felt they bring to many of there problems to the classroom and make kids miserable all day. There are very few good ones left and it shows on how bad our system is here in Emporia and America. People are praying for Turning Point to work out because there so fed up with the schools here and the bad attitude of the teachers that work in these schools. Some dont act like they have a degree by there actions( like rolling there eyes like a little kid ) and there not on skid row. People are paying heavy taxes here. If the teachers would stop catering to all of the iilegals here maybe they would have some.. time and money for legal American kids. I think this profession got put into the same spot as the police & our goverment has... no one believes in you or trust you nor do they respect you. Thank God for real teachers college professors.
May 17, 2007 at 9:15 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MelissaE (anonymous) says...
I'd like to just say that anything Barbara61 said does not reflect my feelings toward ANY teacher.
I'm sorry for you, Barbara61,that you feel that way.
I had a great time (and great learning experience) throughout my entire schooling. Village Elementary through EHS.
B--how cool is that? You ran into Ms. Taylor. :) I'm jealous.
M
May 17, 2007 at 9:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
bdprotheroe (anonymous) says...
Yes, and she looked great! (I believe she told me that she is now living in Dodge City.) What is so much more funny is she asked about my younger siblings, whom she also taught. WOW! I can't imagine how many students she has taught in her career... and to think she remembers us all.
BP
SF, CA
May 18, 2007 at 6:12 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MelissaE (anonymous) says...
I just wanted to bump this because my mom said she saw Mrs. Wright yesterday, LOL.
Hi Mrs. Wright! I am sooooooooooo happy you were a wonderful, funny and thoughtful teacher! I admire all teachers nowdays. :) Oh, to be in third grade again.....no worries in the world (except for Mrs. Wright getting on us about talking too much!). I know I was a handful that year and I know there were several of my friends who were too.
I have an almost-second-grader now. Are you busy next year? (Heehee).
Melissa
May 21, 2007 at 7:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LisaN (anonymous) says...
Melissa- It's too bad that Mrs. Barr is no longer around to teach! She started me on a life long love of Biology! I will never forget all of the animals that she had in our classroom; snakes, lizards, hamsters and anything else that she found in need of care. Remember the praying mantis eggs? We were so disappointed that they did not hatch. It sure was cool though! To this day when I think of my early science education, Mrs. Barr always is the first to come to mind.
May 25, 2007 at 12:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MelissaE (anonymous) says...
LisaN--Mrs. Barr was fabulous, huh? She was so easy-going and likable and made whatever subject we studied something fun to learn.
Since Mrs. Barr lived on a farm, we got one or two Siamese kittens from her. She was an animal lover, that's for sure & I loved all the animals she brought to school!
M
May 25, 2007 at 3:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
zoahjoe (anonymous) says...
Teachers from my younger days that made me the teacher that I am today, as I celebrate my 20th year as a High School Teacher.
Mrs.Gilbert (WAW)
Mrs.Bruce (WAW
Mrs.Samuelson (WAW)
Mrs.Newkirk (WAW)
Mrs.Potter (Mary Herbert)
Mr.Hartley ( Mary Herbert)
Mrs. Stinson ( Mary Herbert)
Mrs.Lennon - Music ( Mary Herbert)
Mr.Duncan - Princpal (Mary Herbert)
Mr. Burch -for teaching me how to play the cello, in the front vestibule at Mary Herbert.
Mrs.Hulse - Librarian for making every book come alive off the pages.
Mr.James -8th Grade Math -for teaching to the "top of the Class" and making us learn!
Mr.Collier - 8th History - saying the Pledge of Allegience every day and making us better American citizens.
Mr.Foyle - EHS History - teaching us to ask questions/ as no questions was wrong to ask.
Mr.Harclerode - EHS Biology and more/ teaching us about life.
Mrs.Schoap - EHS ,for picking me to be Gabriel in the Christmas Program.
Mr.Haskell - EHS Librarian -my ongoing love of books.
Mrs.Schmidt - EHS College Prep / and you did prep me well all the way to a Master Degree from Columbia.
Thank you one and all !
May 25, 2007 at 4:05 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hjcary (anonymous) says...
You all are bringing back my childhood memories at Village, Lowther North and South and EHS as well.
K-Mrs. Ehrilch
1-Mrs. Pool
2-Mrs. Inwood
3-Mrs. Kaufman
4-Mrs. Stewart
5-Mrs. Dambro
6-Mrs Wetzel
7 and 8th Ms. Taylor, Mrs. Eldridge, Mr. Lintz and many more. I loved Mr. Lintz (if that is how is name is spelled?) I agree that Ms. Taylor was scary. I was sick to my stomach every day in her class.
Then highschool was great with Mrs. Schwinn, Mr. Nelson he was the greatest Biology teacher my mom had him his first year of teaching and I think I had him his last I have many fond memories of his integrity for teaching truth and not fiction. Of course Mr. Harclerode for A&P.
I had some great teachers but I am afraid that there is such a large number of "bad apples" these days that teachers get a bad rap. We send our kids to a private school out here in CO because the school up the street from our house has only a 38% reading proficiency. Can you believe only 38% of the 3rd grade kids can read well. That is so sad. My 1st grader is writing in cursive and reading chapter books.
Thank you to the caring teachers out there still serving in the teaching profession.
May 25, 2007 at 4:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MelissaE (anonymous) says...
I forgot about Mr. Harclerode! Funny story, too:
I was in A & P and we took the trip to K-State for the cadaver lab/tour. They warned us ahead of time that if we felt faint, we should leave the room.
I started breathing heavy (quietly, and wondering why I couldn't breathe?) and realized too late that I was about to pass out.......When I woke up, I was face-down on the floor with blood around me. I had smacked my chin on the corner of something on my way down......and I had a lovely gash in my chin to show for it. They called my mom & asked if they should take me to the hospital (because it obviously needed stitiches) and she said to wait until we returned home (since she worked at the hospital).
So, I rode in the same seat with Mr. Harclerode all the way back to Emporia--he wouldn't let me go to sleep (I wanted to) and he kept talking talking talking. Then, we got to EHS and he drove me to the hospital. And I was promptly given 8 stitches in my chin.
The next day, he came to my first-hour class to check on me. :) He said that had never happened before and he hoped it would never happen again, LOL!
hjcary--I had Mr. Lintz, too. I thought he was great! What year did you graduate?
M
May 25, 2007 at 7:15 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hjcary (anonymous) says...
I graduated in 1994. When did you and Brian graduate?
May 25, 2007 at 10:15 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MelissaE (anonymous) says...
1993--and Brian and I were in school together from Kindergarten on up.
M
May 26, 2007 at 12:29 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
zoahjoe (anonymous) says...
Oops, I meant to write Mrs.Schwinn, for college prep.The old memory is starting to go.
May 26, 2007 at 7:36 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )