14 years ago ....
Kip Turner was bored in math class. He was bored at school most of the time. He was good at it without trying. He didn't need to be the best. He just needed to get an eighty-percent average and his parents would let him play sports. He could manage that without too much effort.
He raised his hand. Mr. Parker sighed. "Yes, Mr. Turner."
"Can I have a hall pass?" Mr. Parker looked annoyed. Kip took a hall pass for a bathroom break everyday. "I'm done the assignment." The teacher's shoulders dropped and he waved Kip to the front of the room.
On the way to the bathroom his eye was caught by a bulletin board set up in front of the English room. It wasn't his English class that was on his display, he felt relief. He didn't want his crap on display for the entire school. He read an uninspired, regurgitated essay and rolled his eyes. He glanced up at the title in bold, pink and blue letters, "My Future Plans."
He was going to move away, go back to class, but another poster drew his eye. The writer had meticulous handwriting and had written far more than anyone else. He glanced at the attached picture of a young girl with a pile of stuffed animals on her bed. She was holding a stick and pointing at something out of the picture behind her. Intrigued by the story behind the picture and what someone could be planning so thoroughly, Kip began to read.
My Future Plans by Mandy Green My Great-Grandmother was a teacher. I didn't know her, unfortunately. But, my grandmother still tells me stories her mother told her about teaching in a one room school house. That sounded really great to me and I set up my own one room school house in my bedroom.
Ever since I was five I wanted to be a teacher. I used to line up my stuffed animals in rows and teach them whatever it was I happened to be studying. But, I always tried to make it more exciting than my teachers had. I don't know if I succeeded, but it did succeed in making me a better student. Thus proving that teaching someone else something is the best way to learn.
Throughout my school career, as a student, I've had exciting teachers and I've had boring teachers. The teachers who are excited are the ones who care about the students and the subject matter.
I once had a teacher who didn't just teach us subject lessons. Her lessons went beyond the classroom. Her caring went beyond the school yard. She helped many of her students out of what felt like hopeless situations. She gave us confidence to tackle our lessons inside the classroom. We carried that confidence into the world. I want to pass her spirit onto others as it was given to me.