First Day of School

Today is the first day of school for most kids around here, and as the yellow school buses roll by, I find myself thinking of the some of the teachers who have touched my life. I remember Mrs. Thatcher, who taught me how to make a terrarium out of an upside-down soda bottle. Or Mr. Millett, in fifth grade, who made a game out of everything. My second-grade teacher (Mrs. Rogers, I think her name was) had our class do a project identifying birds and leaves; every time I see a blue jay or a ginkgo tree I think of her.

Then there was Mr. Stoker, my high school English teacher and softball coach, who knew that I was much better at reading and writing than I was at playing softball, but who let me on the team anyway. I’m not sure which of us was more relieved when finally, after two years of floundering on the JV team, I mustered up the courage to tell him I didn’t want to play anymore. He inspired me to write, and to love good stories. Mr. Bowman and Mrs. Ross taught me American history and helped me find my place in it, and Mrs. Balser taught me to love math, even though I didn’t know why.

So I begin this back-to-school day with a prayer of thanksgiving for those teachers, and so many others: teachers who stay up late grading papers, and pay for supplies out of their own pockets, teachers who put in extra time after school to teach kids to read, who find room on the team for mediocre athletes, who teach us about blue jays and ginkgo trees, and who inspire our lives.

Thanks, teachers. Have a great school year!