Get Schooled

By Syrupmaker

June 10, 2005 11:17 AM | Link to this

I am a 30 year veteran teacher and MY favorite teacher is STILL teaching! Mr. Dess Oliver taught me drafting and Industrial Arts in high school. He was willing to take a chance on a girl who wanted shop class back in 1967. He is the reason I went on to major in Industrial Arts at Georgia Southern and later to return to my old high school to teach woodworking and basic metalworking before going full time as a drafting teacher. I spoke to Dess’ brother recently and he told me Dess just signed on for another year. I think that makes 48 or so years of challenging students and teaching them craftsmanship that is so rare in today’s mass-produced world.

Students at Rabun Gap-Nachoochee School are truly blessed to have this remarkable man still sharing his love of trains, woodworking, and craftsmanship with them. Dess, you are still my hero! NK

By Dan

June 10, 2005 11:24 AM | Link to this

In 7th grade my english teacher Mr. Taravella (Monroe NY) was about to start a two week section on poetry. As you might expect most 7th graders are not to thrilled at this prospect. So when we arrived in the class we were surpried to see that MR T had a record player set up (yes an old player of vinyl records)he then proceded to hand out copies of two “poems” but told us not to look at them and started the record. We listened to “sounds of Silence’ by simon and grafunkel and “alice” by Jefferson airplane. afterwards we went over the lyrics on the sheets he handed out. By creating a different way to approach poetry he succeeded in piqueing our interest in both poetry and music and many of the kids looked forward to the next poetry lesson. Incidently MrT also was the announcer for the HS football games and his goal was not to use the same adjective twice during a great game ie great super wonderful spectacular catch. It became a game with the students helping to think up new ways of describing the game. yet another creative way to get kids to like a tough subject. Thanks Mr T

By Mary

June 10, 2005 01:55 PM | Link to this

I can think of a few great teachers I had Stone Mountain High (class of ‘92). The best, with most personality and all-around interesting, I would say was Mr. (James?) Perotta. He made AP Psychology an absolute blast. Really knew how to keep us interested. There was a school counselor named Rosemary Brock, too. Mrs. Patsy Cain, loved her too. For Social Studies, I remember I really liked Mrs. Ifill, but I’m not sure about her name. And, for English, believe it or not (she was really strict and hard but fair) Mrs. Lewellyn! I had alot of teachers I really liked in elementary, middle, and high. A few not so good ones, but isn’t that a fair representation of society?

By tar heel chica

June 10, 2005 02:10 PM | Link to this

I have to name more than one teacher deserving of a “shout out.”

Spring Valley High School, Columbia, SC:

Jon Stafford, AP History. Great sense of humor, incredibly engaging, offered hilarious anecdotes. Also, in those few weeks after the AP exam and before school ended, he held a classic movie fest (Hitchcock, etc). Some selections are still high on my favorites list. My sister had him 10 years later and has the same sentiments.

Dave Oberly & Pat O’Neil helped fuel my enjoyment of math, in which I obtained both my undergrad and grad degrees.

Karol Clark: AP Latin. Could I have remotely thought this class would have been anything other than like hearing nails on a chalkboard? Yawn. BUT, she was so cool and down to earth, with silly jokes and a unique way of making the class incredibly interesting. Toga parties!

Finally, I hated English classes. Mrs. Grimes was the exception. Ex-hippie type married to an army officer. Always up to tricks in class. I remember once while studying MacBeth, the bell rang and she was nowhere to be seen. The lights were off, she soon appeared in white and covered in “blood,” then delivered the “out d@mn spot” passage. Also, I still have the videotape when we had to make a movie from a book we had read. “The Horror, The Horror!”

Not to forget middle school: I couldn’t wait for the one day a week we spent in our T&G sessions. We spent time learning how to think critically and creatively that I don’t think I got in the regular ole lecture classes. We built actual working cameras from cardboard boxes and even had a journal published. Thanks Mrs Edwards and Herring.

Thanks to all the others!

By MamaS

June 10, 2005 02:46 PM | Link to this

Miss Nell Newman the 8th grade English teacher at McDonough Elementary School was unforgettable. She always had a handkerchief (NOT a tissue) and she never made a grammatical error. She even wrote to Walter Cronkite once when he made one, and he wrote back apologizing. She taught straight grammar — person, tense, regular and irregular verbs. She also taught manners — the old-fashioned kind: students were addressed as “Mister or Miss”, students stood when an adult entered the room, and chewing gum was banned (unless you could prove you were a cow). Forty years later I still will not chew gum in public! Thank you, Miss Newman.

By becca

June 10, 2005 03:03 PM | Link to this

I have two favorite teachers, one was a man teacher, Mr. Locke, who has passed away. He taught me sixth grade and was very nice and fun and tolerant of my talking all the time. My other favorite teacher was my Geometry teacher at Norcross High School, her name was Ms. Ramsey then, but I think her name is Ms. Frerking now. She was also tolerant of my talking and used to write me notes in class to ask me to please stop talking. She was a wonder and taught me alot about math. I am a teacher now myself and had great inspirations from wonderful teachers along the way like these two.

By Sarah

June 10, 2005 04:32 PM | Link to this

When I was a student at South Stanly High School in Norwood, NC - 25 years ago! - everyone walked in awe of Mrs. Marlene Sanges, our French teacher. This was a very small, country high school, with no middle ground between college prep and bricklaying (and not much college prep at that). Yet everyone wanted to take French. No one cheated in her class, no one talked or passed notes, or dared not turn in homework, yet she had the coolest, most fun classes in the school. French was the only language taught, and she only had enough time in the day to teach first and second year classes. Yet, my junior year, she stuck six of us in the back of a class, gave us independent assignments and did double work herself so that we could have a third year. Senior year - yep, two of us wanted to continue for a fourth year. So she put two seniors and two third year juniors in the back of another class, and gave us that opportunity. We wrote, published and distributed a French newspaper that year, performed plays for the entire school - you name it. And when college time came, I placed out of four semesters of college French - in great part because she was willing to go far, far beyond the call. I’d love to let her know that I use what she taught me every day in my work!

By ziza817

June 13, 2005 04:20 PM | Link to this

I grew up in Brooklyn NY during the 60’s and 70’s and went to school in East Flatbush. PS 208 on Ave D, Meyer Levin JHS on Ralph Ave and Tilden HS on Tilden Ave. I had all wonderful teachers and not any bad ones. Those teachers loved teaching and we learned! There was no need for SAT prep classes in those days. I was an average student and scored over 1200 on my SAT. My friends went to Wesleyan, Harvard, CCNY and I went to Brooklyn College which was another wonderful education. I was a young black girl taught by and surrounded by Jewish teachers and students during the sixties. They believed that we deserved as good an education as anyone else and we got a first rate education that I wouldn’t trade for the world. Wish that my son had experienced such excellent, unselfish pedagogy here in Atlanta.