In honor of National Teacher Appreciation Week, we’ve teamed up with our community partner Teach for America-Alabama to bring you a guest blog post contributed by Teach for America-Alabama staff members. Each corps member below penned an appreciation of the teachers that inspired them to pursue education as a career:
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Bryan Billy Ms. Gutierrez was my English 2 and 3 high school teacher. Every day Ms. G brought her authentic self to her classroom and made all of us feel like we could be ourselves too. She showed me a side of English that wasn’t boring and wasn’t stuck in just reading a book to answer a few questions. She made us write, analyze, write, annotate, write, and collaborate. Her classroom was always fun and energetic, and that was stemming off of the energy that she brought each day. That was what I tried to emulate in my classroom and what helped me to find my own teaching style. – Bryan Billy
- While I was in school at Rutgers University, I had the pleasure of taking two courses with Milton Heumann, who was fun to learn from, fiercely knowledgeable, and so challenging that you were scared to not be prepared for his class. The bar he set for his students was so incredibly high, and by reaching it, he helped me prove to myself what I was capable of as a student. I am grateful for his insight, knowledge and support. The high expectations he held for his students were the model I tried to replicate when I got into the classroom myself. – Allison Silber
- Ginger DeWitt, formerly Ms. Ginger Williams, was my high school math teacher for 3 years at Valley High School. She impacted me through her actions of going above and beyond to ensure I passed her Algebra II with Trig class. Because of her, I love math to this day and taught middle school math for eight years. – Sandreka Brown
- Ms. Maltz was my 11th grade English teacher. I have to say it was one of my hardest classes. Upon reflection she was one of the few teachers that really had rigorous content, and all her assignments built up to one major thesis that I wrote on F. Scott Fitzgerald. I mean note cards, outline, full citations, references, the whole nine yards. I would take the city bus and spend long hours at the main downtown library in Miami and at the FIU campus library working on this thesis. We had to turn in several rough drafts, and she must have used dozens of red pens getting through all our papers. I ended up getting a good mark on the paper and my paper was good – really good. She honestly prepared us for writing a college level paper, and I have to say from my first day to the last day in her class there was a dramatic growth in my ability to write a paper and in understanding what it means to create a really good thesis. I appreciate her for pushing me to a result I never thought I would be able to accomplish. – Sassha Bellairs
- Diann Frucci was the most challenging, most empowering, most enlightening teacher I have ever had. In fact, it is because of her that it nearly took me five minutes to type this sentence as I wanted to ensure that my parallel structure was on point. Ms. Frucci taught me AP English Language and Composition in the 11th grade. When I started as a 9th grader at LAMP High School, I deeply feared this course. I even remember journaling the summer before 11th grade that I would accept my first ‘C’ on my report card ever to come from Mrs. Frucci’s class simply because I knew how challenging it was going to be. However, my time with Mrs. Frucci was nothing short of inspiring. The time she took teaching us essential grammar technique empowered me to be able to confidently and correctly express myself through the written word. Additionally, the novels we read in class, such as The Things They Carried and Wuthering Heights opened my eyes to the world around me and to new and diverse ways to comprehend the challenges of our world. Thank you, Mrs. Frucci, for planting in me the capability to respond to the world around me thoughtfully, intentionally, and grammatically (correctly). – Miles McCauley
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Ansley Hagler Ms. Harden’s energy was always at 200 percent. She was my Spanish teacher in high school, and she helped foster my love for the language, my curiosity about Spanish culture, and my interest in studying abroad. She came to class every single day committed to her students, passionate about her work, and full of creative energy to help us learn Spanish. Her influence inspired me to minor in Spanish during college and to study abroad in Spain, an experience of a lifetime and where I had to the opportunity to teach English to elementary students, sparking my interest to teach. Her unyielding dedication inspired me on my hardest days as a teacher myself and was a reminder of how important it is to light the fire of curiosity in my own students. Thank you, Ms. Harden. – Ansley Hagler
- Throughout my time at Greenville High School, and in Butler County, I was privileged to work with tons of caring, supportive and inspiring veteran educators. It was a joy to learn from and partner with them in pushing our students to succeed every day. I especially appreciated (and will always appreciate) the help and support of Naomi Pryor, Wendy Smith, Tina Hill and Todd Henderson, who were my rocks. – Elizabeth Boak
- Ms. Murphy was a strong southern woman who was passionate about the content she was teaching. Even more so, she was passionately dedicated, giving her students the space to work through the subject matter and help us use it as a mirror to both see and respond to the strengths and weaknesses found in ourselves and the world around us. She taught us the importance of recognizing our weaknesses and how to move forward successfully. She was there, always. Mrs. Murphy was a life-impacting instructor whose voice will stay with me forever. – Alison Wilks
- Ms. Rogers was my 1st grade teacher at Glen Iris Elementary, and she changed my life. I was reading below grade level when I entered her class, and given the growth I needed to make and the sheer impact this had on my confidence as a child, Ms. Rogers not only taught me how to read, she taught me to love reading and see it as a critical element of my success. As I moved through elementary school, she would have me come back during my lunch hour to help other students with their reading, which ultimately further improved my reading comprehension and also increased my passion and understanding of the importance of literacy and service to others. Thank you Ms. Rogers – you made a difference in my life. – Khadijah Abdullah
- My most inspiring teacher was my high school English teacher. She always pushed us far beyond what we thought we were capable of doing. She was truly the most patient, loving and passionate teacher, and I was incredibly lucky to be in her class! – Ashley Buckelew