The contest is “on hold” until I find a way to collect stories by phone and electronically convert them to text. But you can submit your own story by adding a comment to this blog and several submissions are shown below.
If you add a story about your best teacher, please identify yourself below or email this form to cthau@targetins.com. It would be helpful if you name this document with the teacher’s name. Unless you specifically state otherwise, your submission establishes that we can publish your submission (without your contact information), as we deem appropriate solely to support the purposes of the contest.
Teacher:
School:
City:
Grade/Subject Taught:
Submitted by:
Submitter’s Email Address:
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What this teacher does/did that was so good:
Teacher: Fred Krebs
ReplyDeleteSchool: Johnson County Community College
City: Overland Park, KS
Grade/Subject Taught: All history related topics
Submitted by: Steve Katz
Fred Krebs has taught history and history-related courses at JCCC for 40 years. His mother, Virginia Krebs, has been a board member for many years. Fred has a special talent for enacting members of history. He travels throughout the U.S. as a part of Chatauqua and the Kansas Humanities program enacting historical characters such as Ben Franklin, Abe Lincoln, William Allen White, Fred Harvey and many characters – to the delight of audiences young and old.
Fred brings this talent for acting to his classroom at JCCC where he brings history to life. I have taken three history courses at JCCC with Fred Krebs. He is a graduate from Kansas University and an active member of Mission Rotary. One visit to Fred’s office and you will see shelves of books that defy the Dewey Decimal System. His door is always open to his students.
Steve Katz
Teacher: Irving Stern
ReplyDeleteSchool: Woodrow Wilson SHS
City: Washington
State: DC
Grade/Subject Taught: Computer Science, both Intro and AP
Submitted by: Ben Healey
Description / story about the teacher (can be anywhere from 2-5 paragraphs):
Mr. Stern was the kind of teacher who inspired students to pursue careers in fields they’d never even heard of. He didn’t just teach us computer science. Rather, he used computer science as a way to teach us how to think.
Mr. Stern had long, gray hair – way past his shoulders – and a beard to match it. He had Frank Zappa posters plastered on the wall behind his desk. Looking at him, you wouldn’t think he’d be the kind of guy who could train your mind to build logical frameworks and construct the sort of code modules that might serve as the basis for elaborate computer programs. But that’s what he did.
The point of Mr. Stern’s classes wasn’t to learn Pascal or C++. No, the point of Mr. Stern’s classes was to learn how to analyze a problem, to break it down into its component parts, and to go about solving each of those parts. He taught us that debugging was only hard when you didn’t know where the problem was, and that you should always known where the problem is if you broke down the original challenge systematically.
Ten years later, I still remember our core database problems. We were supposed to be running a cheese store, and I had never heard of Emmenthaler or Jarlsberg or dozens of other varieties of cheese before then. But by the end of that class, I could sort cheese, stack cheese, sell cheese, and do anything else I might have wanted except for eat the stuff! I still credit Mr. Stern for teaching me to be a cheese connoisseur, but more importantly, that ridiculous cheese store has helped me break down and solve complicated problems ranging from the political to the economic to the social ever since then.
And in the end, as I was to find out, some of the smartest kids in our class went on to pursue computer science degrees in college. In perhaps the greatest tribute of them all, the most brilliant kid in our class (not me!) returned to our high school to teach computer science when Mr. Stern retired a few years back. I know that he still uses some of Mr. Stern’s lesson plans to this day, as well he should.
***
Ben Healey
Yale School of Management
MBA Candidate, Class of 2011
Teacher: Wayne Hauschild
ReplyDeleteSchool: Brookings High School
City: Brookings, SD
Grade/Subject Taught: Baseball Coach, History Teacher, Drivers’ Education Instructor
Submitted by: Gary Barton
In my high school American History Class, Mr. Hauschild asked “I’m curious, Class. I’m very curious why kids today don’t have much interest in history?”
The class is very quiet. No one speaks up as Mr. Hauschild scans the blank faces. Finally, he looks straight at me and says “What do you say, Gary?”
Put on the spot, I nervously look around and truthfully answer: “I can’t speak for the others,” I said, “but I really like history.”
Total silence. I’m sure most of my classmates thought “What a brownnose!”
Several years later at a class reunion, I met Mr. Hauschild and told him that story. Although he didn’t remember the incident, I told him how much I still enjoyed history. My only complaint was that I thought it would be great if a course in local history could be taught. I believe if such a course were taught, people might have more respect for their town, as well as history in general.
Teacher: Mrs. Hackett
ReplyDeleteSchool: P.S. 36
City: Staten Island, New York
Grade/Subject Taught: 5th grade
Submitted by: Suzanne Thau
I still remember standing in the summer heat of my elementary school playground, feeling as though I had been punched in the stomach upon hearing the news that I had been assigned to Mrs. Hackett’s fifth grade class. Turning to my mother in horror, I could tell from the bleak look on her face that although the news was bad, there was no use in fighting it. I was officially doomed.
Sure enough, the first day of class I was met by a tall, imposing woman with steely blond hair and even steelier blue eyes. She informed us in no uncertain terms that while she demanded great things of each of us, she also demanded great things of herself. As this was our last year before entering junior high school, it was her job to prepare us for the challenges that lay ahead as we became young adults. It would not be easy, she warned, but it would be rewarding.
Mrs. Hackett lived up to her promise, even when it meant telling us truths we did not want to hear. When I handed in what she considered a sub-par essay on the meaning of the Statue of Liberty, she called me up to her desk in front of the entire class, demanding in a voice loud enough for all to hear, “I know you can do better than this. Now take this home and try again.” When I came in the next day with a vastly revised essay, she smiled and told me that this was what a winning essay looked like.
Mrs. Hackett’s best gift to me came at the end of the year when she recommended me for the advanced program in the junior high school. Although I was not in the gifted classes throughout elementary school, Mrs. Hackett said I had a rare intelligence that just took a little longer to display itself. She took me aside and told me that she believed in me and my abilities, and that all I needed was to believe in myself.
At the end of the school year, we also discovered that Mrs. Hackett would be retiring. Although I am sure there were shouts of joy from the incoming fifth graders, I was sad to think that future students would not benefit from her hard truths. Although it was sometimes difficult to face her advice, I admired the passion she had for her students and her desire to do more than make sure we had memorized our multiplication tables. She truly wanted to turn us into upstanding, intelligent young adults, and I appreciated her effort. She taught me several valuable lessons that are applicable regardless of your age – to never give up no matter how hard the road ahead may seem, to be your own person, and to believe in yourself even when others may doubt you.
Teacher: Mrs. Patricia Ann (“Pann”) Baltz
ReplyDeleteSchool: Camino Grove School
City: Arcadia CA
Grade/Subject Taught: Fifth Grade
Submitted by: Claude Thau
When our son was assigned to Mrs. Baltz’s class for fifth grade, other parents told me to be prepared to have substitute teachers for a significant portion of the year. Mrs. Baltz was disabled. She had had a series of strokes with resultant sight problems, walking problems etc. and each year could be counted upon to have a health crisis.
While not as “liberal” as when I’d been younger, I still supported helping people to make a difference and I strongly supported trying to maximize the contributions each person can make. But it did not make sense to me to sacrifice the children’s education to support a teacher whose disability precluded her from doing an effective job.
Fortunately, I took no action. Mrs. Baltz turned out to be a wonderful teacher for our son and we were delighted when our daughter was in Mrs. Baltz’s class later. How wonderful it can be to be wrong sometimes!
Mrs. Baltz was an extremely effective and creative teacher. She got the children to try and explore a lot of different things. She was at the leading edge with projects such as having the children drop eggs from the roof of the school, the challenge being to find a way to do so without breaking the eggs. (She also let me teach a class on solar cooking.)
In addition to being an outstanding teacher in terms of content, Mrs. Baltz taught and modeled wonderful values! Just think of what the children learned about the disabilities that can afflict people and the lessons they learned watching Mrs. Baltz not let herself be stymied by her disability. She had such a wonderful attitude!
Indirectly, Mrs. Baltz taught me a fundamental life principle when she was a finalist for the Disney teacher-of-the-year award the first year the award was granted. My wife and I and our two children were sitting in the living room watching the event when a thought suddenly flashed across my mind. “I hope Mrs. Baltz loses!” I blurted.
Of course my family looked at me as though I was not only crazy but also the lowest scum of traitor imaginable. But they gave me a chance to explain. “If someone else wins, that means there is another teacher in the United States who is at least close enough to being as good as Mrs. Baltz that the other teachers chose to select that person. I think it would be really good news that there is another teacher comparable to Mrs. Baltz and I don’t think Mrs. Baltz would mind not winning. So I hope she loses!” My family begrudgingly conceded that I was not crazy, but they still did not like my idea. The principle embodied in this example has been valuable at other times, such as when our daughter was rejected by her top choice colleges.
Another teacher was declared the winner, but then it was discovered that the auditors who collected the votes from the finalists had somehow missed some of the votes. When they recounted, Mrs. Baltz and that other teacher were declared co-winners.
For more information about Mrs. Baltz, read her story “A Braver Song to Sing", a Zondervan Press publication by Marilee Dunker.
Teacher: Van Rose
ReplyDeleteSchool: Shawnee Mission Northwest High School
City: Shawnee KS
Grade/Subject Taught: High School Math and Boys Cross-Country
Submitted by: Jeremy Foster
Running takes me to another world. The tension in my body releases, my worries disappear, and I can think clearly. I count running as one of my greatest blessings, and I probably have no one to thank more than my high school cross country coach, Van Rose (endearingly referred to here as “Coach”.) Thankfully, I glean far more from Coach than a love of running: his life example and explicit coaching offer lessons of discipline, creativity, and personal character that have impacted me deeply and helped me to be more successful in multiple aspects of life.
Coach’s approach to teaching incorporates his own personal dedication and creativity, and this example leaves many with a profound sense of what it takes to win, both on the cross country course and in life. He shows these traits most clearly through his thoughtful and methodological use of training techniques, trying new techniques each year and keeping the ones that work. He does whatever it takes to win, while making it clear to his runners that breaking the rules to do so would really be cheating themselves. He teaches teamwork and accountability by grouping athletes into smaller teams that help each other conquer their weariness with each gruesome mile.
Coach uses discipline and rewards in just the right way to keep his runners on track (no pun intended). My sophomore year, I made a poor decision about footwear, subsequently gave up late in a track race and failed to do my best. Coach knew his student-athletes well, and he pulled me aside the next day at practice. He didn’t shout or use intimidation as some coaches might have. He was disappointed, and explained that running in the race came at a cost to the school. By going to the race and not doing my best, I had potentially wasted the value of the school’s investment. From that point on, I no longer take races, or other investments that organizations and individuals are willing to make in me as a person or professional, as rights but as privileges and responsibilities to make the most of opportunities. Coach’s mentorship is a powerful example of the value of investing in others and pushes me to do the same.
Coach takes time to teach strong personal character, and lives out these values very visibly. He teaches humility in victory, verbally in practice, and then with actions, such as when he gave his runners all the credit after our school won its 6th state championship in a row. He teaches attention to detail and also does so with great dedication. He doesn’t teach spiritual lessons with words, but led the varsity and junior varsity squads in prayer before our meets, which calmed our anxieties, built team unity, and served as a powerful and positive example of faith. Coach has been an excellent and dedicated teacher in both Calculus and Cross Country, and teaches his students to have a balanced but strong work ethic. As a student in Coach’s calculus class, I once asked (perhaps to justify my less-than-optimal physical training efforts), “Which is more important: school work or athletics?” His reply was quick and profound: “It depends on the time of the day.”
Coach’s inspiring, consistent example and mentorship offers me far more than running techniques and advanced math skills. Coach challenged me and gave me tools and inspiration to do my best in every aspect of the race of life.
Teacher: Mrs. Benson
ReplyDeleteSchool: North End Elementary School
City: Greenbelt,Maryland
Grade/Subject Taught: Second-grade
Submitted by: Ron Slepitza
Please fill in the above information, type your submission below and email this form to Claude Thau at cthau@targetins.com. It would be helpful if you name this document with the teacher’s name. Unless you specifically state otherwise, your submission establishes that you will allow us to publish your submission (without your contact information), as we deem appropriate solely to support the purposes of the contest. Thank you!
The habits of effecting learning are established early and one gains confidence as a learner from the experiences at the hand of an effective teacher. Mrs. Benson was just such a person, my second grade teacher in 1959. Mrs. Benson knew the importance of our learning to express ourselves and to gain confidence in public speaking. Each day we were encouraged to do a short one-page report on a topic and deliver it orally in front of class. The topics followed what we were covering in class and so I was encouraged to present a report on such topics as: the constellations, butterflies, characters from Greek mythology, the states, trees and leaves, and many others that I can’t remember fifty years later.
While most of these reports were easily developed from flashcards or an encyclopedia and many had the assistance of parents in their development; it was the student who had to stand in front of the class and do the presentation. We became comfortable in front of a group. We discovered we had a voice and that our ideas were worth offering. We knew Mrs. Benson would find what we had to say very interesting, she would be pleased with what we did, and make us feel that we were special for having done so.
Today, part of the reason I am comfortable speaking in front of a group is from the encouragement of Mrs. Benson.