If You are Reading This, Thank a Teacher!

Today is National Teacher Appreciation Day! I am a bit late in blogging in, but it's never to late to thank a teacher. So here it goes.

To Mrs. Bryan, my first grade teacher, thanks for being so kind and loving. You taught me to write words and add numbers. Wow! Where would I be without that!

To Mrs. Breitbach, second grade. Thanks for putting me in that upper reading group. You encouraged my love of reading and made me feel successful. You also let me have a turn at pushing Billy, our classmate in a wheelchair, to lunch. That taught me to take care of others and even though they were a bit different, we are still very much the same.

To Mrs. Smith, third grade. You taught responsibility by making us responsible for going to the milk room, counting out enough milks for the class, carrying that heavy crate of milk up the stairs to class, and then serving our classmates. You also taught teamwork, as it took two of us to go get the milk.

To Mrs. Suess, fourth grade. You were the one who first said we were getting older, almost grown up and out of elementary school. We had to write our assignments in books that we kept in our pencil cases. Organization! We had those spelling bees and math bees and if we were good we played "Heads up, seven up"

To Mrs. Reid, 5th grade. How cool you were! So young and vibrant! You were my first encouragement to write the poems I so loved. You posted it on the bulletin board, and told me I could do anything! We made that huge dinosaur mural on the wall. We did The Christmas Carol as a play. I won the 5th grade spelling bee and you were so proud!

Sixth, seventh and eigth grades. Jr. High as we called it. Wow, so many teachers!
Mr. Gifford, science, you taught me that when you try on a friends ring that is much to small, it will come off with glycerine. You let me take home the guinea pig for the weekend. Even if my mom hated it!

Mr. Giddings, social science, How fasinating all your travels were! You made us dream of going to other lands, that there was a big world out there besides our little hometown.

Mrs. Bogue, English. Wow! I have so much to thank you for. You have been the most encouraging person in my entire life with my writing. You would let me sit for hours writing you stories instead of my English homework, which you said I mastered. I loved you so much!

Mrs. Hazel, librarian. You were always there for me. From the day I was born you have been my friend. Auntie Mary, you are all that is left of my mom. You are the last of her friends and how great it is that you are now mine. I miss you and wish I were closer. We could pick berries in that old patch of yours and eat to our hearts content. And then I will clean out that basement of yours just to see the treasures lurking there.

High School. Oh what years those were! Trying to find myself, where I fit in, and who I wanted to be.

Mr Williams, Civics, US Govt. Thanks for teaching me all I needed to know about succeeding in life. I have given your advice many times. "Find a way to make money at something you love to do" You made High School fun in yearbook, in Senior bowl team and in class. You taught us more than many books could.

Mr. Wright, History, Thanks for making us write the Star Spangled Banner, 3 verses, on the back of every test we took in your class. I now can be proud to say "I do know the words!"
Thanks for our reports we had to write out of US News, Time, Congressional Record, and The Amercian Heritage. It made me appreciate the country I live in.

So thats pretty much my list, I am sure there were more, like Mrs. Johnson, our elementary music teacher, who made us sing Do, Re, Mi all the way to our chairs. We learned the scale that way. Mrs. Siedenburg, who taught us art. How lucky we were to have our world broadened by art. I never would have thought that there would be a school day without art and music.

PE, that much dreaded, climb the rope, out jump everyone, and shower in public class. I am now thankful for 12, yes 12 required years of PE. It kept me skinny and fit and gave me an outlet for my energy.

Speaking of energy, Thanks for letting me have recess. So many kids today don't and NEED it! 15 minutes twice a day helped me settle down and concentrate on my studies. Of course we didn't know about ADD back then.

So Thanks to all teachers everywhere, for getting up every morning and facing the unknown, everyday! It may take your students many years but eventually they will be thankful!

:J