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Thanksgiving for Teachers — 11 Comments

1. Mr. Wayne Cherrier was my favorite teacher. I had him in 2nd and 3rd grades. We moved and then he also moved to where we were living and taught me in 7th and 8th grades. I couldn’t have asked for a more dedicated Christian example. He was a meek and quiet man, but all of his students loved and respected him. He had a habit of praying on a rotating basis for all of his current and former students. He also wrote or called each of us once a year, always encouraging us to stay close to the Lord, and had prayer with us when he called. I still treasure the small paperback copy of Steps to Christ which he gave me 58 years ago for my 8th grade graduation. I am so thankful for his positive influence in my life.

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2. My top two memorable teachers were Lela Whorton (1st and 2nd grades) and Otto Hirsch (6th-8th grades) in Ridgetop, TN. Both of these teachers set the framework for my academic movement into nursing and later to a Ph.D. in Nursing Education. While they were not the only influential teachers I had, these folks gave me confidence that I was smart and could learn anything I wanted to. They also shared their love for Jesus in every action.

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3. I have had a number of teachers who had a very positive impact on my life. Beginning with my 1st grade teacher Mrs. Evans, who was so kind and patient and beautiful. She instilled a love for reading in me that I carry with me into my classroom. The 2nd was my 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Juliette. I was so afraid to go into her classroom because she seemed stern but she loved her students and I grew so much in her classroom that year, she instilled a love for geography in me. In 7th & 8th grade I was in an Adventist School and it was Mr. Ziesmer who listened patiently to me as I went through some very difficult life experiences. He was always there for me and to this day I appreciate the extra effort he put in to give me a leg up in life. In my sophomore year of High School it was Mrs. Michnewicz who helped me through Algebra 1. I had been struggling with Math for years but she made it possible for me to understand it and to pass it. She was a young and vibrant teacher who had epilepsy. She died from it a few years after I graduated. That broke my heart. Then there was Mr. Pesta, my band teacher in High School. He came to our school and turned our band around. We were awful and he had his work cut out for him. He was funny but firm and we all became better musicians and thrived under his tutelage, even winning state championships. He instilled in me a greater love for music than I already had. Each of these special teachers had an impact on this little girl from the wrong side of the tracks and helped form me into the person I am today. A daughter of the King of the Universe and a teacher in an Adventist school. I hope I can have even a fraction of the positive impact on the students I work with that these teachers had on me. I am grateful that God placed each of these special people in my life and that they valued me and saw the worth in spending their time teaching me. I remember each fondly.

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4. I had Dr. Halle Glass for Bible docs at Ozark Academy. He was much better at explaining things than any other teacher I ever had. He did however vehemently hold to the vision in the cornfield for the great disappointment.

   I also had Dr. David Gottlieb at Sacramento State University for my masters work in Social Psychology. Very insightful and cooperative and a wonderful individual his teaching style was, what do you think, let’s try it and see and can you prove it. I also had some complete turkeys that I won’t name but twice at University was forced to stay out of the classroom without being allowed to drop so I had to take them credit no credit. One was clinical psychology which was required so I had to take it again from somebody else and the other was the Bible and archaeology. He said there was no support in any dig for Bible history. So naturally I brought in some current stuff from modern archaeology and scientific American, he did not like that.

   My counselor said “sometimes you just keep your mouth shut and take your A and go“ this has never been easy for me to do. That was approximately 50 years ago, and I’m still not over it...Royce

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   • Royce- reading your article I remember specifically how I got a "f" (failed). I always told my family never settled for a 'F' in school, but now I can see why having an 'F' means failing but for the right reason. All my children went to college/universities and completed. I took a subject area which was about origins and never realized it was about evolution. Doing the test I leave out the answers or some places I said what I strongly believed. The instructor didn't like that. Do we obey God or man?

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5. One of my favorite teachers was my father, John Jaeger. He always wanted to be a history teacher, but instead he taught a love of history to his children. He often had a smile on his face and cared to help people. During Vietnam war, he refused to shoot any woman or child. His decision put himself at risk at least in one occasion. Although divorce can come with many disappointments, my dad still kept a cordial relationship with my mom and her new husband. Many years after their divorce and into their second marriage to other people, One time my mom and dad ended up at the same hospital, and my mom and her husband, my step-dad, decided that it would be good for my step-dad to visit my dad who was on a different floor. As my step-dad finds my dad's room they start to visit. A nurse comes in and says to my dad, "Oh I see you have a visitor, Who is this?" My dad replies "This is Bill, my ex-wife's husband."

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6. My all-time favorite teacher is Dr. Krystal Bishop at Southern Adventist University. In the Literacy masters program she exemplified teaching the whole child/person, reading to the class a book authored by my name sake, or by some author from a country in Asia where one of my classmates was from, taking us to book fairs and second hand book shops, inviting us for vespers at her house and picnics on Sabbaths, and teas on Sundays. She has kept in touch with me all these years since I graduated in 2008, inviting me to write for the journal Adventist Education, sending me interesting books, and finding the time to visit with me whenever she was in my neck of the woods. She is my role model of an effective Christian teacher who not just tells her students but shows them what it means to be effective teachers.

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7. Thanksgiving for Teachers
   Where are all my teachers now?

   Thanks to my teachers. My education background was from the British system. I attended non Christians schools. Don't even knew if their was such as a SDA school at that time. But that would not have changed the trajectory. Parents too poor to provide private education when the country was offering it free.

   My Kindergarten teacher was a teacher from the Adventist church. The 1st contact I had with Adventist. The school was in her parent home, don't even knew if my parent paid or not. My question is- how was I taught with slate and pencil and still remembered things? She was a very good teacher.
   Then I remembered moving so many times and going to so many schools that it was so hard to write about all my teachers. I remembered my standard 5 class teacher. Very strict but loving. Do her work and all will be well. I thought it was at this stage that education was cemented in me from her as well as a teacher who once was an SDA. He held paid Saturday lessons for children who so desired or who needed extra help.(I was not an SDA at that time).

   Another teacher I remembered was the Head Master of one of my schools. I remembered we sang for all assembly- #506 A Mighty Fortress is our God, that was over 40 yrs ago.
   My college/university teachers were great. Struggled with some subject areas but overcame in the name of Jesus.

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8. Mrs Mercedes was a very special teacher in my 5th grade. She put my imagination to fly and she taught us to create wonderful thing in our mind. I can remember a celebration of a birthday of a classmate, I really enjoyed it but it was "virtual", teacher Mercedes made us to have the party only in the mind, nothing material. It was great.

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9. Miss Jean McCurdy was my Junior English teacher in high school.
   She went above and beyond teaching literature. She had us memorize wise sayings and I still remember some of them many years later. She taught us about life beyond the literature textbook. I still have a notebook with some poetry I asked her to review that wasn’t part of any assignment, because I trusted her.

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10. My immediate response is to mention two teachers who had an especially positive impact on my life. I had Bonnie Walker in Grade 3, who was teaching the first four grades in the basement of the Rest Haven (Sidney, BC hospital) church, while Grades 5-10 occupied the two-room school just up the road. She conveyed a simple zest for life, a love for learning, and a humble caring that made for a wonderful school year.

    Dennis Winter taught me Grade 8 in a one-room school in the Chilliwack, BC church basement. His fairness and sincerity impressed me. Over the following four years, once five Lower Mainland SDA churches had pooled their resources to create the Fraser Valley Adventist Academy, he continued to be one of my best teachers, upholding a high standard of learning, as well as being my school bus driver much of the time. Mr. Winter exemplified tireless, humble service.

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