Teacher Appreciation

Facebook is full of comments for teachers’ appreciation week. I guess it might have something to do with the fact that I am part of that world that so many people are posting about it. Though I will admit that I have also seen posts by people thanking those who are teaching their children. So I thought, why not? There are plenty of people for me to thank. I will do that tonight while sharing some stories of those people.

I was fortunate that most of my school days were spent at Lewiston Porter. I did have a short span of three years at St. Peter’s in Lewiston. Both schools are special to me as I look back at those days. During my recent visits and in talking with younger relatives, I am not sure if Lew-Port is the same school that I graduated from in 1983. I wonder if the school has changed that much or if, as in my days, students were itching to get out and experience the world outside of WNY.

As I reminisce on my school days, I know without a doubt that I entered into teaching due to the men and women that worked so hard to share their wisdom with me and the other 310 students of our graduating class. Of course school was a lot different back then. We all know how difficult it was to walk the ten miles to and twenty miles from each day – uphill – in snow – all the way through June. So here is my thank you to just a few, but it is meant for all of my past teachers.

I thank them for the time, patience, perseverance, and willingness not to give up on students. I, like so many people, always thought that teaching was such an easy gig. I imagined how nice it was to wander in to school ten minutes before the day started and walk out with the students. Teachers have all that time off in the summer and at holidays. That was what I thought, then I learned. The teachers who stood in front of the class each and every day came in early, left late, spent many hours after-school running clubs, somehow managed to grade our papers, and, hopefully, had time for their families. I now have a better idea just how much they did for all of us. What really is interesting is the teachers that I remember the most.

Mr. Presutti, my AP English teacher in 12^th grade, often comes to my mind when working with students. I never really knew where I stood with that man. In the first few days of school, I remember him pulling me out of class to tell me that I didn’t belong in his AP class. He asked me if I wanted to go back to regular English. I didn’t. He told me that I had five weeks to prove to him that I belonged. I felt that I spent the entire year proving that I belonged there. He never let up. I worked in that class because I had been challenged. I ended up passing my AP exam because this man made me reach higher than my own expectations.

The one thing I seem to remember about his class was that he set the bar high for all. While he raised his expectations, he did so knowing that the students could reach new heights. I cannot remember everything about his class, but I seem to recall that he was a man with rules. If you followed the rules all was well. In a way, I used him while teaching. I did not let my students be mediocre. I let them know that there was so much that they could do, and I expected them to do it. Students did not have to be A students to succeed in my class; they did have to work and grow. Mr. Presutti, whether he liked me or not, made me grow to new levels. In a way, I often wonder if he knew just what he did for me. I truly believe I never would have published my first book if he hadn’t been the teacher that forced me to search inside to see who was there.

While Mr. Presutti may have been tough the next teacher for me was the opposite. I hope I don’t offend him, but when he tried to be tough, for the most part, it never worked. Although I will admit he could throw a baton across a room. Yes. I am referring to a band teacher; this would be Mr. Brasure. This man, though not the first, brought music into my world. I think I may have had the pleasure to have been part of Lew-Port during the best time of the band/orchestra period. Band was the class I loved to go to get a break from the rest of school. There was something about being able to pick up a horn, play music, and forget about any tests that were coming up. It was an escape.

The one thing I remember, outside of our Disney and West Point trips, is the fact that Mr. Brasure gave us a chance to break loose from the norm. During my senior year, he got rid of the boring weekly lessons that most band teachers put students through. He allowed students to build quintets and quartets and do some self-study. While he would sit with the groups during practice, he allowed us to work out what the group worked on and how we corrected and improved. He moved us away from the rigidness of most classes, even music, and gave us freedom. Of course being able to perform in the band, Jazz band, orchestra, and brass quartet gave me times to look back on. This man worked hard to open up the world to us as he brought music from around the world and time periods into our lives.

There were so many great teachers during my 12 years of learning. Mr. Gullet made geometry fun. Mr. Daniels tried his hardest for me to get through physics – didn’t happen, and I still remember Mr. Wellington’s method for solving Sine, Cosine, and Tangent. Each and every teacher gave a part of themselves to make future a better place. They put up with so much – okay maybe my partner and my dancing our dissected fetal pig across the table may have been a little too much. So what was the biggest thing I learned?

My teachers taught me to be a teacher who never gave up on a student. I easily could have been the student that teachers could have given up on. My high school years were not that easy. I was learning to live without my dad, and I figured that I could get through high school without trying. I found many ways to get to stay home. I really didn’t care. Yet I made it because of those adults who didn’t have to care but they did. They taught me that the future is something that we need to nurture and we do that through helping those who need it the most.

When I was in the classroom, I channeled those teachers of my past. I never gave up on a kid. I even had students ask me why I cared about them so much. I would sit at my desk and have to fight back emotions. Why would a student ask people to stop caring? Every time I found myself in that scenario, I brought back Mr. Presutti, Mr. Brasure, Mr. Kilroy, and the rest. I could see them talking with me. I could see them wanting me to succeed. I could see them with pride each year at graduation (I played in the band at three of them) as even the hardest to reach pupils crossed the stage.

Back then you were teachers. Today, you are people to whom I owe much more than I can ever pay. Sadly, over the last few years, I have read about the passing of more and more of those who helped me. With each passing, I realize that there is another one that I will never be able to thank. So this is my thank you. They may never get a chance to read it, but now the rest of the world knows how great these people are or were. I know that not everybody had a great experience in school, but I hope each person had at least one teacher that was as great and caring as anyone of the ones who stood and poured out their knowledge each and every day. May I be half the teacher of anyone of them.

Thank you for meandering with me today.