So recently, while using my student voice, I've had to tell many stories which include the excellent teachers I've had through the years. Teachers have such a huge influence on life; this is why teaching should be considered an important, if not the most important job. Anyway, I hear all sorts of stories about great teachers and them teachers helping out their students as they get older. Then their old students come back in town or write a letter or call and thank the teacher for all the things they did and opportunities they gave their students. What I want to know is how these students are able to stay in contact with their old teachers?!
I have several teachers who I'd like to be able to thank for all the opportunities they gave me. I have teachers who were amazing at making me feel special and learning what it takes to be a great person in this world. Sometimes, I'd like the opportunity to tell them thank you and not just pass on stories about them. I think it should almost be a requirement for people to go back and thank their old teachers. And I suppose I could get in contact with some of them, maybe by calling the schools and asking for contact information. But I don't. What would happen if we gave more people an outlet to thank their teachers? Or maybe there is a way, and it just needs to be mass marketed.
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So I've given it a lot of thought, and although it would be nice to go back and thank those two teachers, I have one person I would rather thank more than anyone else who has ever taken the time to help me learn.
She wasn't a teacher at any of the schools I attended, though she was the one person who had the patience to help me through my struggles with math. Her name is Marilyn Graham.
She was the sixth grade teacher at an elementary school across town, where she later became principal.
As my tutor, she didn't talk down to me or make me feel less intelligent when I still had questions about the same problem we had been going over for nearly half an hour. She would repeat each step, and would have me work each step with her. There was never a tone of annoyance in her voice, and she always had a smile. She was the only tutor I have ever known to not ask for money in return for her services. All she asked, was that I passed my tests.
It's things like that, that I remember. I grew a friendship with this woman. She'd have me over for dinner on nights I wasn't being tutored. I became close not only with her, but her husband and her mother. They asked me questions about my day. They took an interest in things that other people around me didn't. She was different from any teacher I had ever known.
I would like to see Marilyn again. The last time I saw her was at the clinic. It was then she told me that she had been battling cancer for a few months. I hope she is well. I know that if I were to see her again and thank her for all that she's done for me, I'd tell her that I hope everyone some day gets to meet not only a teacher, but a person as kind, loving, and just all around amazing as she is.
She has spent several years teaching at this school, which has the highest crime rate and has students where the parents don't take any interest in how they're doing academically, and not a single student in her class ever failed. She took the time before, during, and after school to make sure each student was receiving the education they deserved. That is the kind of teachers the world needs. The world needs more Marilyn Graham's.
I guess because I am relatively "fresh" out of school, or maybe it's the "friendly way" of New Zealand, but I have kept in touch with most of the teachers I would like to keep in touch with. I email, phone them, see them when we happen to be in the same city. We chat, laugh, help each other - just like at school I never let them forget how much I appreciate them or how much of a difference they made to me. I think we have to remember that teachers are people as well and people can never have too many friends - so just go for it and contact them. Schools usually know whereabouts their teachers are, if not formally, then some of the staff will know through their friendships and whatnot. Using online networks like Hi5 or in New Zealand's case, the best one is www.oldfriends.co.nz is also a good way to get in touch.
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