Kindergarten Ms Thomas for her patience with me crying daily
until I had fully acclimated and knew my mom wasn't lonely without me home.
First Grade Mrs Flores who never judged me for not coloring
in the lines.
Second Grade Mrs Gillespie who inspired me to memorize a
lengthy poem to earn enough points to get the book Professor Diggins' Dragons.
Third Grade Ms Van Buren/Mrs College who got married that
year and did her very best to make that year miserable for me whether she
realized it or not. Maybe swearing,
yelling and telling kids they are stupid through words and actions was
acceptable back then but no one else did this and I never saw her do this to
other students.
Fourth Grade Ms Atchison for letting us make the coolest
Utah History books ever.
Fifth Grade Ms Thiriot/Mrs Yockey, she got married that year
to Terry Yockey, yup he played football at University of Utah and taught us all
to play. I had my first inclination that I wanted to be the first girl to be
quarterback at BYU. LOL
Sixth Grade Mr Hartvigson who retested my reading ability
and bumped me back to the highest reading level from the lowest (where I had
been stuck and bored stiff since 3rd grade).
I also confirmed that I LOVED math and had a plan to finish calculus
before I finished High School.
Seventh through Twelfth many teachers too numerous to
list. Standouts, in 7th Mr. Young (who was not young) my math teacher
confirmed for me that I was never going anywhere with math and crushed my
dreams to teach math some day. Mrs Getz
who although made me stand in the corner or sit in the red chair (no real chair
just crossing legs and leaning against the wall in sitting position) when she
thought we did something wrong, she chose me to be on the yearbook staff which
built confidence in me that began my journey into art and an ongoing role on
yearbook staff for many of the years to come. 10th grade Mr C who taught
Algebra a class we mostly talked about everything else but Algebra. I cried
every night getting help from my dad to figure it out but I got it, I got an A
in that class and have never finished a math class since. But I loved the life conversations he would
raise. 11th & 12th grade and beyond, Coach Waite (PE) and Mr Gordon (art).
Both inspired me to be more than I thought I could be. They helped me stretch and reach accomplishments
I would not have imagined. I will be
forever grateful for their genuine interest in me as a student and helping me
find what was trapped inside.
These teachers, the great and the not so great all taught me
important things that shaped my life in many ways. I learned that not everyone plays nice. I learned what it feels like to have a teacher really believe in you. Grateful for the lessons learned from all of them.