Good Teacher

Screw teacher tenure.

     In these trying times, stories of courage are posted on the Internet. The shootings in Conneticut have stories of adults who were shot trying to save students. We never get a chance to hear about teachers who do good.

     Mrs. Paulick was a teacher at Butte View Elementary in Emmett, Idaho. I barely remember teachers going to that school. The reason she sticks out is because she is the one that gave me a little notebook and a red pen. This is what I wrote my first science fiction story on.

     Mrs. Kilgore was a teacher at Emmett Middle School and the Nazarene church. She was the most enthusiastic and spiritual person I had ever known. She loved Little House on the Prairie and had all kinds of interesting information about the wild west. I learned how to churn butter and say basic words in Spanish.

     When I was taking Art at Emmett Middle School, the feisty Mrs. Beasley was my teacher. Although she spouted of the occassional ignorant remark, she was fun and taught discipline. She was very particular about how I drew wheat and she taught me how to draw eyes and  the cool facial features that African Americans have.  She often planned the decorations at school dances and I had a chance to participate.

     Mr. Schneider was the best teacher I had at Emmett High School. He directed plays and taught English and Creative Writing. He was the one that encouraged my creativity and allowed me to participate in plays.

When I moved to Boise, Miss Inlow was the only teacher that I trusted at Borah High School.  She taught English and Journalism.  She did not force feed the students books to read. I thought that she was easier to talk to than the rest of the faculty at Borah High School. If it were not for her, I probably would have dropped out because the education at Borah was crap.