Great Teachers

I'm working on a new education-related project at work. We needed a code name for it and one of my colleagues came up with the brilliant idea of asking the key participants for the names of their favorite K-12 teachers growing up. Pending cooperation with trademarking and website availability, we will pick one of the names for the name of the project going forward. At it is, I got a laundry list of the names of favorite teachers and the reason behind it this Friday afternoon. It was heart warming and moving. As I'm a consultant, I don't get to participate, which is good because I'm not sure I could pick just one. Here is my list.

Karen Calhoun - 3rd grade teacher. She encouraged me to read. She gave us extra credit for any book report we did which was a simple five minute discussion of any book we read. My list accumulated so fast, she I didn't have to give all of my reports. She also gave every single one of her students a fun book to read. I got Caddie Woodlawn. I realize now that was likely a gift from her, out of her personal resources.

Mr. Krontz - 7th grade life sciences. He pulled me aside and told me he'd been looking at my test scores and wanted to know why I wasn't in the most accelerated classes. The only justification was that I'd been goofing off for the last two years, but after that I started taking things more seriously. The next year I was in the most advanced classes and making the best grades I'd ever made. It permanently impacted the trajectory of my life.

Bette Keating - Earth Science. She was animated. She was tough. I enjoyed the challenge and loved every single minute of her class. She had a long-standing reputation for her incredibly hard Rock practical test at the end of every year to test our knowledge of sedimentary and igneous rocks. I made a 103. I temporarily thought about being a geologist. It was the first time I truly loved a class. Later I would realize how much more it had to do with who was teaching me, instead of what she was teaching.

Ann Mahan - 9th grade English, 11th grade English, three years of Yearbook. She was Momma Mahan to some of us, but don't let that fool you. She was tough. I loved, loved, loved 9th grade literature (Romeo and Juliet and Tess of the d'Ubervilles) and spent the next three years trying to impress her, all the while leaning on her when I needed refuge from the trials and tribulations of life in high school. She took me and my classmates to Europe for the first time when I was 16 and again when I was 17. When my grandmother had a stroke, it was Momma Mahan that told me to call my mom and held me when I cried afterwards. She was also the adult at the prom to cheer me up when my non-boyfriend was being a complete jackass. I still scorn passive voice whenever I see it because of her.

Carole Case - 12th grade English and Theory of Knowledge(12th). She also oversaw my petition for my IB diploma. I lived in fear of Dr. Case's class my entire high school career. When she's pop into Ms. Mahan's room during Yearbook the entire room would go silent. She was as intimidating as they came. We dreaded them.  One of her points was that if you don't talk in the first five minutes you aren't likely to be a significant contributor or participant in the discussion. I remember this in every high-stakes business meeting in which I participate. Recently in my house purge, I found my senior essays folder. The grades were so low I tossed it. I don't want S&J to find it and think that is the bar in our household. Suffice it to say there was no grade inflation in her class. When we were in crunch time for our IB diplomas and stressed to the max (what was our max at the time) she also argued with the band moms to let us buy Otis Spunkmeyer cookies before lunch, which was against the rules. She was tough, but she took care of us.

Wendell Zartmann - 9th grade world history and World Area Studies (12th) - Above all he taught me to read the New York Times. Enough said.