What are my greatest hopes and aspirations for how I want to be in this life?
(Daily Question, Gratefulness.org, July 27, 2018)

What would others say are my greatest gifts? What can I learn from this?
(Daily Question, Gratefulness.org, August 1, 2018)

Summer break ends for many this month.  Teachers are back in classrooms preparing to greet students, and in a few instances, some have already begun school again.  Let’s begin the school year 2018-19, saying thank you those that teach in our public schools and private schools: primary, junior high, and high school.  Thank you, because along with teaching the material of any given day, (as well as reading, writing, and arithmetic daily), teachers manage.  Teachers manage: politics, expectations, student need and outcomes, parents that helicopter and are absent, personalities, technology, lesson plans, drama of all kinds, and manage their own life circumstances.  Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list, but it can be exhausting.  I wonder how often a teacher’s day is energizing?  Thankfully, I think most teachers find ways to stay centered as they manage all those in their care each day.

So, a tip-of-the hat to a few teachers that never knew they made a difference in my life.

Ms. Duncan (2nd grade, Paris, TX).  I was a new kid in school.  I was a talker and didn’t sit still well.  My mother enjoys saying that Ms Duncan was my first “crush” experience.

Coach Cain (10th grade football coach and biology teacher, Hardin-Jefferson High School, Sour Lake, TX).  Coach decided I would be the best to lead our biology class to the parking lot if the building was on fire or some other emergency.  The football players objected.

Coach Dre (pronounced Drew – tennis coach, grades 9-11, Hardin-Jefferson High School, Sour Lake, TX).  Dre was a Canadian women’s tennis champ of some kind.  She also coached volleyball. Not sure how she ended up in South Texas.  In those days I was known to have John McEnroe moments on the tennis court.  Coach Dre broke me of that behavior by making me run a mile for every outburst during tournaments.

Mr. Knipper (chemistry teacher 11th & 12th grade, Richfield High School, Waco, TX).  Unlike any teacher I had previously met, Mr. Knipper, was a German who taught in the States during our school year, and returned to Germany during the summer to teach.  He was known for allowing students to blow things up in class, and requiring students to pay for what was damaged or destroyed before releasing grades.  Choices.  He had an agreement with coaches, drama and choir department, debate club, even the cheerleader coaches.  If a student did not come prepared for his class, you missed whatever extracurricular practice or performance that day to learn the material.  I never saw him make an exception.

I’m grateful for these teachers that helped educate and shape me.  I wonder if they would be surprised by how I turned out?