In past posts and comments I have been hard on teachers in general because many of them have gotten cross-wise with me over the years; some have come near to wrecking a kid or two of mine, and, again, in general, I don't like teachers. But that does not apply to all of them. Over the years we have had some excellent teachers working with our kids and grandkids and I value them above gold. A teacher in Missouri, a state whose education system left me grinding my teeth and mumbling to myself, completely turned my third son around and inspired him to do great work in school. Mister Carol Day (yeah, and he was an ex-Marine, too!) completely undid all the damage caused by an over-educated, ex-hippie, over-bearing, wimp-butt teacher in California who deprived Toothache of his fifth grade education and then wanted to keep him another year so he could watch him fail some more...I guess...well, that isn't what I am writing about today so I don't want to get off on a tangent. The point is, that there are many dedicated, effective, and noble teachers in the profession. I just didn't see enough of them when I was in school and there still seemed to be a lack of them as my babies got to school age.
At the school in Stillwell Park at Fort Ord, a Korean lady taught both HBW and Humbordt in Kindergarten two years apart and they both loved her and did very well. Ms Pepper Dennis at Patch in Germany taught Toothache and MamieLady both in Kindergarten, two years apart, and was a great teacher. I am sure that there were lots of others, but like I said, my strongest memories are of the officious, smarter-than-you types that I had battle after battle with. I keep drifting back to the negative. What I want to tell you about is a really great teacher, Stephanie Anderson, who also happens to be a friend of ours. And I need to share a cute story where she plays a key role:
A few years ago MamieLady's oldest, Emma, was preparing to start First Grade. They were excited that Emma would have Mrs Anderson as her teacher. Their number three child, Hannah, was watching all the purchases and preparations being made. She wanted to share in the excitement but was feeling left out as it seemed to her that her big sister was getting all the attention. She finally broke down and cried out that she needed "a backpack...pencils...new stuff...I need an Anderson !" So Emma had a great start on her education, and under Stephanie's guidance, she became an outstanding student and continues on in that vein.
Hannah's older brother, Grey, was also lucky enough to have Stephanie for a First Grade teacher, and he did very well there, also.
So this is a salute to one of the best, in my opinion: a teacher who loves, inspires, encourages, and TEACHES her students. She builds a foundation for their future learning. Her students go forward with the tools they need to be confident scholars.
This week school started here in the Swirl. All the usual last-minute hubbub and flurry of activity took place: new shoes, pencils, notebooks and backpacks. And guess what? This year Hannah got her Anderson.