The Challenge! Your favorite teacher (all schools) and why?!

I am not ashamed to admit I was a pretty average student with occassional flashes of potential that were quickly extinguished by sports, other outdoor activities, and just living a great life.

As you can see from the title of this post we have been invited to consider who our favorite teacher(s) are from each school we attended. School was not high on my list of things that held my attention for long. Though there were a few teachers who could keep me interested for short periods of time and I count each of them among my favorites.

Shelledy Elementary school is where I attended Kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade. I remember my Kindergarten teacher, vaguely, and to be completely accurate I don't remember my 2nd grade teacher at all (my apologies to both). I do remember Mrs. Kasparik (might have C as first letter) for two reasons; first - she is the teacher who taught me to read, and second - her husband was a musician who primarily played the piano in clubs and bars (we learned this when he came and performed for the school). He also had a knife scabbard, with a knife in it, sewn into his boot and it was clearly visible as he played for us that day. He was really interesting to the group of 6 year old boys that were my friends and that made her all the more interesting, by association. Back to reading, I have always enjoyed reading. In school my choices were not that different from what I read today. Lots of action with occassional mystery and intrigue. She opened the world to me by providing me the foundation of alphabet, simple words, sentence structure, grammar, and spelling that are manifest in my writing today. What a way to change a life.

Fruita Elementary School was next. Here I attended 3rd through 6th grade. Mr, Yount, Mr. Johnston, and Mr. Linn all had profound influence on me in different ways. Mrs. Nagel, and Mrs. Jones also contributed richly to my life in those years. They all reinforced many of the moral lessons I was learning at home in addition to helping me learn the history, social studies, science, language, and other teaching that occured there. Mr. Yount was my favorite of all even though he was only there for my 3rd grade year. He was the P.E. teacher and he devised many ways to wear me and my friends out so we could settle down in the classroom and learn the more important things our classroom teachers were trying to teach. He also taught us how to play fairly and give everyone on the playground an opportunity to participate, which at this age is important. He also taught us that competitive sports are a good thing and we should participate if inclined to do so. What a good man, and a good teacher.

Fruita Junior High School came next; 7th through 9th grade. Two teachers stand out in my memory here. Ms. McKenzie (sp?), and Mr. Webster. Ms. McKenzie taught 7th grade science and, while I did not excel at the subject, she kept me engaged every day. In fact I looked forward to her class each morning of that year. I did struggle a bit mid-year with whatever topic we were studying and she let me know she noticed the struggle and wanted to help by having me come in early several mornings a week for some extra assistance. I think this is the best thing she could do for me. I don't think I understood how much those men and women who make this career choice care about the children in their charge - until then. It made me want to do better, and work harder - and that ultimately paid off with a pretty good grade.
Mr. Webster was my 9th grade science teacher. He was quite a character in the classroom. There was no question he wouldn't ask - even if it meant embarassing himself or anyone else in the classroom. He really only had two rules relating to classroom management the first was never, ever speak without him calling on you, and never, ever (and I cannot emphasize this enough) chew grape flavored gum in his classroom. He would even stop you if you walked past his classroom in the hallway and have you spit out grape flavored gum. He taught me that learning could be fun. His was another class that I looked forward to each day of that year. Learning was enjoyable and I had a great time in his care.
Fruita Monument High School came next; 10th through 12th grade. A lot of teachers influenced me here but two stand out. Mr. Thomas and Mr. Shepard. Mr. Thomas taught math at FMHS; he was the second teacher to really challenge my lazy study habits. He reached out to me early in the year to get me back on track by explaining that if I wanted to keep my grade up I could not fall behind with my work. He, the same as Ms. McKenzie, pulled me in early several days a week to make sure I understood what had been taught the day before. He double checked my work and explained where I had gone wrong with my effort. He lead me to double and even triple check my work to make certain I had it figured out. His class was usually very fast paced and I learned from him to always ask questions when I failed to understand. He was also the varsity boys basketball coach the freshman year so we interacted some on the basketball court as well. Please do not mis-understand, I was not on that team - sophomore and JV ball that year.
Mr. Shepard taught history - I had him for an American history and a World history class in different years plus, he taught a political comparison class that I really enjoyed. Mr. Shepard's influence on me was that, because of his utilization of outside materials I learned to look for learning opportunities everywhere. He opened my eyes to possible sources in print that I had not considered before. Newspapers, weekly and monthly publications, and personal accounts from those who had been there.

Others over the years have influenced me in various ways, I hope that none are offended by my imperfect memory of events and people. All teachers should be thought of fondly by those whose lives they touched - I know that my teachers are all remembered in this way. Thanks to each of you whether mentioned here or not. I am who I am because of your contribution to my education. And that is a good thing. Who knows how I might have turned out without your influence on my life?

More to come soon. Thanks for checking in.