Ms.Jennifer Jeffers (now Mrs. Cavenaugh) at Ogdensburg Free Academy in Ogdensburg, NY was my saving grace in H.S. She was my music teacher starting in grade school. When I went to "the big school"(OFA) the H.S. chorus teacher postioned opened and she got that job. She was there for the good times and the realy tough, hard times. Now she is not just a past teacher but close friend. God bless you forever Ms. Jeffers (now Mrs. Cavenaugh)!!

Edward R. Murrow class of '97. I had a lot of great teachers during the years I was at Murrow. My top one was Mrs. Marcus, that was so down to earth and said to us we are allowed to gaduate high school without having a baby. In addition, to Mr. Dancesinger who tought Earth Science like you where watching a movie every time you where in his class. One of those movies that you just didn't want to miss a part. He is the reason I am able to remember the most of the things he tought even 15 years later. I thank God for having all those teachers in my life who tought me so well, I still carry to this day.

Mrs. Louise Oates was the most memorable teacher at my school which is Hope Bay All Age School in Jamaica. She was the wife of the principal. Though she was not my direct classroom teacher, she touched my life in a positive way. She made school fun and exciting with her lively and fun songs she taught us for nationwide schools festival competitions. She was stern but showed love and compassion to the students through her melodious voice and infectious smile.

Mr. Ray Kudzia was my middle school band teacher at Powell Junior High School in Washington Township, Michigan. . He inspired me with his corny jokes and great stories, as well as the great music we played. Because of him, I decided to become a band teacher. He was a mentor to me in college, and even drove 2 hours to come to my wedding!
Unfortunately, that was the last time I saw him. After getting married, I moved across the country. Shortly after I moved, I found out he had liver cancer, and passed away shortly after. In tribute to him, I had my middle school band play one of my favorite pieces during my junior high days.

mark duntez was my favorite for a while its good to see hes doing well :D

Asking me to choose between all of the great teachers I had is not fair. I consider myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity to experience the love they had for their profession. It is without a doubt that these great men and women played a big part in my choosing to become a teacher 35 years ago. I only hope I made them proud and that I influenced my students as they did me.

Thank you, Mrs, Scarborough, for filling me with a love of school. Thank you to Coach Smead for encouraging my writing. Thank you to all of my amazing colleagues from Princeton Elementary, Grand Avenue Primary Learning Center, Developmental Studies Center, and OCPS Instructional Development for teaching me so very much about children, learning, and living. I am thankful.

I have several teachers that were very special to me. Mrs. Gobert, Miss Tice, Mrs. Murray, and Mrs. Morrison. They all
were and are wonderful women that made me feel special and that
I could do anything i set my mind to.

Ms. Tramontin, one of my English teachers at the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn, is one of the best teachers in the whole world!!!!! She brings so much love to the classroom. I remember being totally overwhelmed when our first analytical essay was assigned. Ms. Tramontin sat with down with for an hour after school to help me flesh out my ideas. She provided a space for me to build the confidence that I desperately needed, and it is entirely because of her patience and guidance that I am a comfortable writing lengthy research papers at today. She is a wonderful person and educator...I cannot say enough good things about her!!

Thank you to Mr. Lee, an English teacher at MS/HS 368, for transferring me to an honors class from an ESL class. It made all the difference.

I'm the most thankful for my high school Political Science teacher, Mr. Chip Berry. At one point I had a C in his class and we were near the end of the semester. I was comfortable with my solid C, but Mr. Berry believed I could do better. He told me that point blank, which at first surprised me but ultimately forced me to realize I needed to work harder. Because Mr. Berry challenged me, I I worked hard to improve my grades and changed my attitude to finish the year strong. Now I volunteer for City Year in New York City to hopefully encourage people the way Mr. Berry encouraged me. My role is to support teams of young adults who tutor and mentor students in communities where the drop out rate is high and it's always great to see students being challenged by corps members the way I was by Mr. Berry. I doubt Mr. Berry even knows how much his words of encouragement affected my college and career decisions, but I definitely glad he pushed me to be successful.

Without a doubt the most valuable learning experience of my early life came from my art teacher, Miss Ethel M. C. Davis. She taught me how to develop an idea methodically from start to finish, to think through every step and keep notes along the way. This process has been the most valuable asset I have used throughout my entire life, whether in creative projects or simple problems that require a step-by-step solution.

Thank you, Mrs. Nadine Lewis-Knight for loving Brandon and all of our students. You understand the value of reaching their hearts in order to influence their minds.

I came into teaching through a different career path. I decided to emulate the great examples I had when I was a student: some teachers some support staff. Their best practices helped me be a better person and teacher. I have been blessed with meeting some of the most amazing young men and women while teaching in NYC. The gifts they have given me while tending to their academic challenges will stay with me forever. Most recently, I have had the honor of working with Ms. Nodel at Millennium. She is by far the most intelligent person I have ever worked for and possesses a unique ability to reach our students. My co-workers are the most caring, hard working individuals I have ever met and I stand in awe of their abilities. I believe our student know that we care and want a future that exceeds their expectations.

I wouldn't say age/how long someone has been teaching really correlates with a teacher's ability to really grasp a student's imagination and motivate them. I've had good and bad of both. While some of my older teachers were very wise, they were also dealing with other stresses in life and warn out and seemed to have lost faith in their students. These teachers had us spend our class time watching movies that weren't at all related to the material. I've also had awesome older teacher's who had lots of stories to tell that tied into class material and so intrigued us. Then, I've had incredible young teacher's that helped me see who and where I could be in the near future. I could be impacting lives just like they were impacting mine! Overall, what has really helped motivate me as a student to try my best is when teacher's or other adults have pointed out the potential I have and tried to draw that out of me. Every kid wants to be recognized, to know that as an individual they are important and have value, that they don't blend in and that if they work for it they can create good things and solve new problems! When others point out your potential and inspire you, it gives you the motivation to do your best always. It's worked for me so far, I finally earned my first 4.0 in my senior year at a private college :).

Good teachers for me have always been the ones who went beyond the mere role of teaching. Mother Gemma of St. Charles has been one of my best teachers till date. She always had the time and sensitivity to identify our state of mind during her classes, this made her extra special and outstanding. She went beyond just ensuring that students gained understanding to building a rapport with all of us, was an excellent role model and most of all she was successful in inculcating in me life skills. I was truly lucky to have had her as a friend, guide and teacher for 4 years of my schooling. Unfortunately she passed away a few years later- but she continues to live in our hearts and memories as one of my best educators of all times that I have come across.

My sincere thanks to Mrs. Maureen Lipnick, who taught me first year algebra and two years of Latin. We could discuss anything in Latin class and I grew as a person because of it. Also thanks to Dr. Tony Scarborough and Dr. Henry Outlaw from Delta State. They exemplified that teaching good teaching imparts something about life, not just a formula for physics or biochem.

Carroll Irwin taught English to a generation of students at Hoover High School in Glendale, California, and tough as she was, she remains an inspiration. She loved "Moby Dick" more than anything. That book is an acquired taste, but there's no way an 11h grader can acquire the taste without being challenged to read and understand. Miss Irwin also demanded that we write with utter clarity, and she provided the feedback we needed to achieve that goal.

As I arrived from the former Soviet Union at the end of 1989 and started attending FDR High School in January of 1990 as a junior, I met many talented and dedicated teachers and administrators there, who made a difference in my education and life and in education and lives of other immigrant students like me.

Ms. Rose Crosby, my Calculus teacher, was named among “Who’s Who among American Teachers” back in 1980s. Applying the teaching method from the movie “Stand Up and Deliver”, she managed to achieve unprecedented results – our test scores for AP Calculus BC test were on par with the test results of the students of Stuyvesant High School in 1990.

Ms. Rae Fischer, my ESL teacher & also the head of ESL department back in 1989-90, fostered our creativity and writing skills. My classmates were admitted into several Ivy League Universities such as Columbia, and 2 of them had a perfect score for math section of SAT.

Mrs. Lagerquist, 4th Grade, Manasquan Elementary School, early 1970s. She taught reading, writing, real math in the age of New Math, history in the age of Social Studies and science with textbooks, tests and hand-on projects. She had complete control of a relaxed, laid-back classroom in which everyone had the chance to speak yet everyone heard and heeded every word she said. She made time for daily Class Jobs and weekly elections for Class President; once you served, you couldn't run again until everyone else served. And without a single moment of prep for them (beyond her admonition to pay close attention to the questions, stay calm and answer thoughtfully), we ACED those standardized tests -- the national, norm-based Iowa tests and the IQ tests. No, Joel Klein, you didn't invent standardized tests, you just introduced the dumbed-down state-based version to NYC.

All of my teachers, except one in JHS 141Q, were excellent; however, my favorites are Mr Canter (PS 39M)my 5th and 6th grade teacher who taught us to always take pride in ourselves and what we could become no matter how poor we were. He often used himself as an example. We hated it when he got married.lol Mrs Garcia (JHS 141Q) who made Science fun and who was always available to talk when we had problems; Mr Levy, who made 9th grade algebra easy and entertaining. Mrs Leonard my elementary school guidance counselor who always advocated for me and told me how smart I am. Last but not least, my 4th grade teacher--Arnold's mother, a perfect role model!Mrs Hildebrand my first African American teacher; Mr Meyers (Long Island City HS) the only other African American teacher I had in my 11 years (SP) of public school! It's amazing how we remember out teachers even after 50 years.

Mrs Loeper of Northfield Elementary School in Ellicott City, MD taught me to read in first grade. I arrived in her class a feral creature unaccustomed to a task not easily mastered. It was a shock to my pride that I was one of the few children not reading in the class. I still remember sitting in true bewilderment and panic as she went over vowel sounds. Everyone knew this but me!

Mrs Loeper recognized my shame and never embarrassed me. She had quiet confidence in her students that made you want to prove her right. She made time to sit patiently with me and sent notes of my progress home to my mother on vine covered stationary. My triumph was her triumph and I still treasure the memory of reading the folded note she sent home that began "Beth can read!".

The librarian at Manasquan Elementary School in Dix Hills in the 1970s. She believed that children needed to choose books freely and often to discovery their love of reading.
As opposed to what our schools do today: have teachers read a script that explains the life out of a book.