The Life of a Teacher: A Life Well Lived
I think we can all agree that teachers are really special to us all- whether we want to admit it out loud or not.
In my last Leadership Macon class, Judge William Randall credited his dedicated teachers for allowing him and others to do well in their studies despite having old textbooks- despite every set back one could imagine of the false “Separate but Equal” legislation of the time. Allowing him to go to college, and then to law school, at a time when many African-Americans did not.
Teachers can inspire us to be better than we can ever imagine ourselves to be.
I’ve never suffered from a lack of confidence in academics, well except for math but that’s a whole other story. History, geography, all of it came from a natural curiosity of the world around me. When I was a child, I literally marked the place on my globe where Macon was (in crayon- taking up most of Georgia) so that I could put my finger on where I was and look at the places on the globe that the men and women talked about on this news.
My first Civics class was in the 8th grade, it wasn’t exactly my passion then as it would become later. Coach Gaddy was my teacher, and I know I didn’t fully appreciate him at that time. But something he taught me must have laid a seed, because later when I took Robert Stevenson’s civics and geography class at Westside (as required by the Bibb Counter Board of Education even though I’d had it in high school) I would decide to run for student council. And that class would become one of my favorites. (Note: Schoolwide Secretary was the position that I won thank you very much.)
Coach Gaddy passed away a few months ago after a long, well fought battle with cancer. Dr. Stevenson was found dead today, we don’t know yet what happened. I’m sad I never reached out to Coach Gaddy to let him know he had an impact on me, but he had to know he was loved by so many- he fought for so long and even won on Earth before his final victory- and I could see the many posts on his Facebook page. I still wish I had reached out.
Dr. Stevenson, I was closer to him. I remember he would quiz us in Geography with locations on the map and try to stump us- but he never got me. I, however, ever the nerd decided to challenge him. I gave him the Bay of Biscay and was able to best him with that. We reconnected over social media, and exchanged a brief conversation in which I told him he was one of my favorite teachers at Westside. I’m so glad I did tell him that, and so glad he told me he was enjoying life.
Teachers are so important- I hope that there if there is one that has made an effect on you that you tell them. Teachers work for very little money but what they put out is so important: our education and that of our kids.
You teachers are all important to me- if you taught me or my kids or not. I think you are vital to the economic development of our communities. The minds of our children are many times our greatest untapped resources and the easiest to develop.
If you have not been thanked lately, let this be my thank you to you.
Love to al y’all,
Molly
