Not long ago, I used FaceBook to track down some of the teachers from my own, often undistinguished, educational past. I couldn't find most of my K-12 teachers -- a function of age and the vast distance between my public school years and the present day. But many of my college teachers were still around, and I was able to find a number of them on the internet. Among the tremendous teachers I had at SUNY New Paltz were Richard Impola, an outstanding English professor who is still actively translating noteworthy Finnish literature, David Huyler, one of the most interesting history teachers I ever met, and Karl Budmen, a professor of education who supervised my student teaching when blackboards were still found everywhere and overhead projectors were technological innovations. All of these great teachers cultivated my deep love of literature, history and teaching -- shaping my career and a large portion of my life.
So I decided to write letters to them telling them just what their influence meant to me. The note I received from Dr. Budmen was both eloquent and rewarding. He said that teachers almost never hear about how they have affected their students, but to get a letter from a student who remembered him and his influence after more than 40 years is "like winning the Academy Award of Teaching." It was wonderful that a ten minute investment of my time meant so much to someone who had such a profound effect on my life.
A friend and colleague of mine, Jim Paul, went the additional step of tracking down an elementary teacher of his from a small school in rural Tennessee. She was well over ninety and lived in an assisted living center, but she was still interested in schools and able to talk about some of her most memorable moments in teaching. She, too, was absolutely astonished that a student from nearly 50 years ago sought her out and was interested in her wisdom about children and teaching.
Anyone reading this post certainly has favorite teachers who deserve to be thanked. Better than that, why not track one down and give him or her an Academy Award for Teaching?!
