A letter I received from a former student:

[Are_grits_groceries]

I posted this a while back. 'A while back' is a Southern measure of time. It can range from an hour to several decades. Whatever fits.
I was completely gobsmacked when I got this from a former student. I still am. You never know.....

So I graduated from High school and did my undergrad at the University of Oregon (a world away from home). I studied biology and minored in chemistry with a focus on ecology. After graduating I worked seasonal wildlife biology jobs for a while in CA, OR and CO. After a while it became clear that this was not really enough and I needed to go back to school. I had a weird epiphany one day about becoming a high school science teacher so I did an M.A.T. with a focus on biology. I didn’t get a job anywhere that I wanted to live so I ended up spending just under a year traveling and working in Costa Rica as an ecological/tourist guide.

When I got back to the states I ended up getting a job working for a museum directing an NSF funded project that was a natural resource management and technology career exposure program for Native American students focusing on salmon mitigation efforts with a major cultural integration component. I did this for 5 years and I’m currently a doctoral student in the Science and Math Education Department focusing on free choice learning. I want to help facilitate outreach and education efforts for watershed scale restoration projects, I’m looking at ways to reach diverse stakeholders in these endeavors, particularly private land owners. I’m researching collaborative efforts and mechanisms for making inroads into rural communities where agriculture/logging is king. I want to try and change the way people approach land use and resource extraction. Ultimately I want to help create/enact land-use policy that will help balance natural resource extraction with ecological conservation. These are big goals and I’m just staring my Ph.D. and I’m already aware that I need to narrow my focus but I’m trying to clarify my interests.

Basically conservation and the preservation of wild areas have been a passion all my life. I’m studying different aspects of what goes into generating personal interests and emotions towards different subjects. I can now look back and recognize that your class had a huge impact on me at a critical period of my life. I don’t know if you meant to do this or not but the way your framed environmental issues and concerns really had a tremendous impact on me. I do see that other experiences helped establish my interests (my parents are avid outdoor people), but your class was instrumental in developing what has really been the driving passion for my professional career.

I have interacted with hundreds (if not thousands) of kids over the years and I’ve often thought if I can have the kind of impact on them you had on me I’ll die happy. I figured if you had the kind of impact on me that you did maybe I can reach some kids on the same level. I try to create a spark in them relating to environmental issues and think about ways that they can make a difference. I have stayed in touch with several former students of mine and some of them are indeed pursuing science careers.

I’m moving away from focusing solely on youth education now but I will continue to be involved in activities like citizen science projects designed towards promoting ecological literacy across different age groups.

Anyhow I’ve tried to get in touch with you a few times over the years, I called the school district etc but no dice until now. Hopefully this doesn’t freak you out, I just wanted you to know that you reached at least one of your students on a truly profound level and really helped shape my whole life’s work and passions. I can’t help but think I’m not the only one…

So here you go, 20 years later. I just wanted to make sure you know these things.

Thanks.

.....smh... Wonders never cease.

[orpupilofnature57]

1. That's beautiful ,what a thoughtful person....

you must of had something to do with that too, good job!!!!!

[Martin Eden]

2. Plant a seed ...

... and beautiful things will grow

K&R

[Are_grits_groceries]

3. This letter validated

my teaching career. As odd as that may sound, it's true. When you teach, you rarely know what ultimately happens to the kids when they move out into the wild world. Even affecting one student is important.
If he can then affect one or more people, the ripples outward have begun. Hopefully, a lot of people will ultimately be touched. That is significant.
This letter is a priceless gift to me. It matters more than any money or other material reward I could ever get.

Edit to add: I don't remember exactly what I said. I do know though that I was passionate about it. The kids knew I believed what I said. I also told them why it was important. They can tell when you are faking it.

[Martin Eden]

31. Priceless Gift

Priceless Gift describes what you imparted to your student, as well as the gratitude expressed to you 20 years later.

It saddens and angers me that teachers are being made into scapegoats for the budgetary shortfalls of government.

[iemitsu]

50. you are more than an inspiring teacher you are also a wise individual.

you deserve the recognition (and more than is) contained in this letter.
the passion a teacher has for the subject and the honesty and respect shown toward students influences the impact the subject has on any one of them.
students know when you care. and, as you say, "you can't fake it".

the smallest, most insignificant things we say might mean the world to a student. they listen more than we think they do.

once, during my lunch break, i overheard three girls debating the physical attributes of their male classmates. in my typical, sarcastic way, i interrupted them to interject, "everyone is beautiful when they smile and no one is when they frown". it meant nothing to me other than interrupting their gossip. they did not respond and i forgot the incident.
a year later another student, who had entered the room just as i was sharing my wisdom with the trio of girls, came back to school to visit. she reminded me of the event (which i did not remember until she recounted it) and said that the comment had made her change her mind about dropping out of school. she was in advanced courses and getting fine grades and i never suspected she was discouraged with school. i still have no real clue what was up that day or why such a lame comment would have made her change her mind. she didn't explain it. she, a native student, hugged me, thanked me, and gave me an eagle feather she had painted so i would remember her. i'm looking at it now (its in the curio cabinet).

no career was inspired by this incident but it is validating never-the-less. and it reminds me how important it is to consider the things we say to kids. we have more influence than we imagine.

good luck. i hope your school year is wonderful.

[LuckyLib]

4. Music to the ears of every teacher. Congratulations on a job

that no doubt continues to be well done. This letter is a reminder to all of us to thank those (no matter how long ago) who made a difference in our lives.

[secondwind]

5. Reading this makes you feel that your life was worth living, doesn't it? You must be some teacher!

[Selatius]

6. You know, overall I'm pretty gloomy about the outlook for the future.

War and strife is spreading across the world. Our ice caps are melting. Whole species are being wiped out. People are suffering and starving to death because of political upheaval and sheer greed and carelessness. Our rainforests are being burned and cut to death. Our oceans are being blackened with industrial pollution and poison. Just as the environment is being polluted, hate and greed pollutes the world of man.

The list of misery is endless, but this letter does give us some hope. It is an affirmation of having some hope in the face of darkness. It is an affirmation of life. In the darkest places and times, we need something like this to help once in a while.

May it be your light in the dark when all others go out.

[lunatica]

7. That's one hell of a thank you note

Every student should be lucky enough to have one teacher like you.

[nradisic]

8. Teachers matter, in a big way...

Kudos to you! Must be a great feeling to have made a difference.

[TahitiNut]

9. That's the "Nobel Prize" in teaching ... it can make an entire career feel worthwhile.

As a former teacher (only one year... enough to "get it'), the feedback I got from students and former students more than made my short teaching career worthwhile. Just an involuntary "Oh!" from the back of the class felt like a ticker-tape parade down Broadway.

At the other end of the spectrum, it also reinforces my naturally pedantic style ... and some inner drive to LEARN to the point I can explain what I've learned.

I don't think that's all bad.

Kudos!

[psychmommy]

10. That one represents the 100's you hsve touched over

Your career. There are a couple teachers I should write. There is a saying: give me my flowers while I am Living. You received a big old bouquet.

[left on green only]

11. The way I like to think about it............

...is to say that you have the distinct honor of being able to really make a difference in the lives of your students, because you are teaching them at a critical time in their lives. I bet that it probably doesn't feel like it most of the time for you, but still, you are planting seeds in their formidable minds, whether you or they are aware of it. Some of those seeds may sprout and grow. Some may not.

I had two teachers during that time in my life (9th grade History & 11th grade English) who planted seeds in my mind that have really made a difference in a very real way in the quality of my experiences throughout my life. Of the two, I can only remember the name of one today, and both of them were nearing retirement when I was in their classes, so it would be futile for me to try to contact them to thank them. But I have thought many times in my mind how much I would like to be able to do that.

I went to school in Orange County California during the 60's, which was about as right wing, red neck, neo-fascist Nazi as you could get ("my country, right or wrong&quot . Had it not been for those two teachers, I would have never escaped from behind the Orange Curtain with my mind. In thinking back on it, both of them risked a lot with their expressions of courage in teaching all of their students how to view our planet, along with how to use our minds to think critically. I am sure that not all of the seeds that they planted grew and flourished, but I know for a fact that some of them did. I was not a brilliant student in either of their classes. I was just average. And I am sure that, at the time, if either of them knew what an effect their words would be having on my life, they would have been even more astonished than I

Isn't it funny how that works?.

[msedano]

12. the gift that never stops giving

a letter like this. millions of teachers go through a career never knowing if what they did works.

teachers, it works.

good job, gente.

mvs

[Arkansas Granny]

13. What a lovely letter.

[iemitsu]

14. what a beautiful letter.

i hope you take it out and read it whenever you are feeling overwhelmed and picked upon.
i know what you mean when you say the letter validates you and the work you do.
i have received several letters like the one you shared and have heard from former students and their families, reporting on their growth and any influence i might have had on the direction of that growth.
i teach history. it is not always the favorite subject of high school students yet several former students of mine, who left high school to become mathematicians or engineers, ended up with history degrees. their parents were no doubt disappointed that they did not study something that could make them some money.
one story i think of when i need validation came from a conservative young man i had in class years ago. he questioned (politely) nearly everything i said in class. he was sure i was a crack-pot. he did well in high school and went on to study at MIT. after he graduated, got a masters and was working for google, his mother came to school and found me to tell me what her son had said. she told me he said that i had "asked him more critical thinking questions than any teacher he had had in college or graduate studies". and that he, "had learned to think for himself in my classroom and that i was smarter than he had thought". that was a great validation.
i was also ordained as an internet minister in order to officiate at the wedding of two former students, who had fallen in love in my class ten years earlier.
those sorts of incidents and bumping into former students or their families at the grocers and hearing updates about their lives fuels my ability to go to school each morning.
thank you so much for sharing.
i'm off to school in a good mood today.

[lukkadairish]

15. Fantastic

You did a great job with this student. He/she is now paying it forward. We could only hope the branches on this particular tree will branch, prosper, and bloom.....

[beac]

16. What a wonderful tribute and what a teacher you must be!

[reflection]

17. That speaks volumes about you.

You should be so proud of that. I hope you keep that letter (or printed email) in a safe place.

I've been on a personal quest recently to thank people who helped me or touched my life in some positive way. (I have also been doling out some apologies to a couple of people I wronged.)

I shared dinner with my 10th grade algebra teacher recently and we had a wonderful time. I made sure she knew that she had a profound impact on an impressionable kid.

Life is not guaranteed and it's good to tie up loose ends when you can.

[kag]

18. If he/she only knew...

That you were really a leaching, mooching "victim" who will never take responsibility for your life, and that you are ultimately a total failure because you haven't made a brazillian bucks shutting down healthy companies and sending jobs to China!



But seriously,

[MindPilot]

19. that's a teacher's paycheck right there.

I once had a former Auto Shop student of mine stop stop by my house just to tell me that one particular thing he had learned in my class made him the man of the hour at his work that day because he was able to diagnose a problem no one else could figure out.

Those are the moments...

[liam_laddie]

20. Lasting effects on both teacher and student...

Years ago, teaching college-level product design courses as an adjunct assistant professor on an intermittent basis, one-year or semester appointments (being a full-time partner in a consultant firm limited my flexibility), I found that the creative fields attract students of widely-varying talents, age, life experiences and motivations. I expect a similar range of characteristics is found in all student populations; for me, these variables were initially quite difficult to accept.
Some students required special coaching or my enthusiastic support for their kernels of ideas and concepts if they didn't feel confident in their own talent or thinking. Others were self-starters and capable from the beginning. There were some, who went on to successful careers, who later thanked me (sometimes in print!) for believing in them.
Because grading in "the arts" involves subjective judgements, it's nearly always difficult for them not to take criticism personally; my being as objective and as honest as possible about the students' work seems to have had an effect on their careers. This was probably the most satisfying aspect of teaching.
In closing, I say fuck the corpo-political cadres who seek to reduce the teacher to an administrator of cookie-cutter, corporate-sponsored standardized testing, which aims to turn out worker drones, not fully-equipped human beings. We must resist the attacks on teaching and the school systems.
Thanks for enduring this personal reflection about being an occasional teacher...

[Suji to Seoul]

21. That's why you become a teacher. I have one on my facebook from a former student too.

dear Mr. ---,
i just wanted to say that even though it was years ago, and i was small, you made a great impact on my way of life. i hope you know that you are my favorite teacher still, and always will be. you made me look and believe that i could do things I wanted to do and not just what others wanted me to do. it's funny how far apart we are not, on different continents and all, but i will always remember my favorite classroom. i hope you have a wonderful life in Asia and where ever you go, and i hope that you do everything you said you were going to do years ago.
a student from the past
--------

Brought tears to my eyes.

[Ms. Toad]

22. I have been making a conscious effort

to write letters like that to people who have influenced my life. Most have gone to doctors (way too much rare medical stuff in our lives over the last 20 years), but one went to my high school physics teacher.

I actually just sent one off on Friday to a doctor I had 12 years ago. I think I saw her for a total of 4 visits, but she literally saved my life (as would any doctor who treated the condition I had) - but her approach meant outpatient surgery and missing one day of work and no pain v. loss of a major organ, and acute recovery period of at least 2 weeks, and 6-8 weeks out of work. I had had to fight off my GP and two specialists to get to her for what was, then, a new and somewhat risky procedure.

Her response: "I absolutely remember your case. Your kind words are just what I needed today!!"

I encourage everyone to pick someone in their past who has made a real difference and send them a little note just to let them know.

[CrispyQ]

23. I had several inspirational teachers in my life.

I treasure them all!

What a heartfelt letter! I'm so glad this student reached out to you.

on edit: What a great thread. Lot's of great stories!

k&r

[FourScore]

24. Wow. I love this.

And being a Southerner myself, let me commend you on your excellent definition of "a while back". You ARE good.

[Are_grits_groceries]

25. 'Fixin' to'

is another Southern measure of time. When I'm fixin' to do something, it could be in the next minute or years down the road.

[RepublicansRZombies]

26. and this is why we love teachers!

Thank you for being such an awesome teacher!!

You give me so much hope. If one person can reach so many....

[Arugula Latte]

27. That is awesome. Congratulations!

[MuseRider]

28. How nice!

Good job teacher

When I graduated from High School my old Advanced Science teacher that I had in 8th grade sent me a small gift with a note about how much she had enjoyed teaching me since I was such an interested student. Blew my mind. She was wonderful, I took the class as one of my 2 electives because I loved science and she had made me love it more and I told her so at the end of the year. She remembered that.

Teachers are the world. A good teacher is one of the best things a person can have. I remember all my good teachers with great affection and appreciation.

A letter like this points you out as a successful and caring teacher. How wonderful. Enjoy this letter over and over again.

[Tikki]

29. My grandson's Third Grade teacher is the daughter of both his father's and uncle's...

Fourth Grade teacher. At 'Open House' my son and I were able to share with this bright young teacher
how much we appreciated the time and skill her mother put into teaching, especially for my two sons.

She turned to us and said how she wished she could pick up the phone and call her mom and just share about this.
She lost her mom a couple years ago.
But her mom's legacy lives on...



Tikki

[reformist2]

30. Pfft! I'm sure e-teachers will have just as much of an impact. ;)

[IADEMO2004]

32. The two of you are now on my hero list.

[DollarBillHines]

33. Teachers are my heroes

I was unable to attend any school, at all. Fortunately, my lack of formal education never really held me back in business.

By the time my two sons were old enough to attend school, I had all the time in the world on my hands and was the "Volunteer Dad" at their schools. Fundraisers, events, stage production - you name it. I saw it all close-up.

Teachers are my heroes.
DBH

[calimary]

34. Wow! That's GREAT! Sounds like it's well-deserved. You really made a difference.

And somehow our teachers are being demonized and chiseled in their pay and benefits...

Our teachers deserve MUCH better than that. My daughter's kindergarten teacher had a canvas bag she carried around with her books and stuff - and on it was inscribed the saying "I touch the future. I teach."

[Liberal_in_LA]

35. k&r

[SteveG]

36. As a former teacher

I have had a few similar moments with former students, but never as well written. That is a wonderful affirmation of what a teacher can do to change a students life. Feel very blessed.

[ErikJ]

37. The one question I remember from my Biology student teaching days.

I was teaching plant evolution for a week and near the end one of the students eagerly asked me when I was going to teach animal evolution and I said I had the week before, which he had missed. He seemed sad about that. I knew then that I was getting through to them. It felt great. I sometimes wish I wouldve pursued a teaching career. Thanks for your service.

[lunasun]

38. you made a difference!!! nice

[kas125]

39. Wow, that's some letter and I'm sure you were so touched to receive it.

I hate what this country is doing to teachers. I worked at an elementary school for almost ten years before I had to start caring for my dad. Many of my friends are teachers. My best friend died several years ago and her daughter is "mine" now and she's a second year teacher in a school that has absolutely no resources. I went to help her set up her classroom this year and I was truly shocked at the difference between her school and mine. Mine had every modern convenience; theirs looks as if it was the set of Welcome Back Kotter, the desks, floors, walls, curtains, everything, even in the office, all are left over from the 70's, if not the 60's. They don't even have phones in the classrooms, they still have an intercom system that doesn't work. If she needs copies, she has to use her own paper and do it herself. We had all the paper and supplies we could possibly ask for and an aide whose job was to make our copies. It is just shameful that two schools in the same county can be so different.

Anyway, sorry for the rant, but it makes me sick that schools and teachers don't get the support they should have and that they're being vilified at every opportunity. I know it must be wonderful to have one of your students tell you how much you meant in shaping his/her life and I am thrilled for you.

[Smilo]

40. What better reference could you ever wish for.......

you must be quite somebody Are_grits_groceries.

Pleased to know you -

[Raster]

41. ooops, something in my eye again.

[Cha]

44. I have that same thing happening..

[SunSeeker]

42. Wow. Congrats!

[XemaSab]

43. Very cool!

(Do I know this person? )

[Barack_America]

45. Awesome. I have a few of those myself that I should send out. nt

[Cha]

46. Twenty years later! Awesome

tribute to your life's work, Are grits groceries..What a legacy! Very inspiring letter from your former student..thank you for sharing it with us.

[MrMickeysMom]

47. Truly, truly inspiring...

To anyone who's taught, or been a mentor in any educational capacity, this is GOLD.

I expect you'll be reading, reflecting on it for quite a while... Thanks for sharing.

By the way, I hope through this ex-student's efforts, we WILL think of land use differently. I appreciate this issue more every year in what local govt contends with. We have to be making everyone aware of best land development. Many hands make less work to control storm water and sustain energy systems... such a simple concept, pushed to the right level after empirical evidence of what we must all do.

[DeSwiss]

48. Ya done good.....

...real, real good!





K&R!

[eepatt]

49. From a former student...

Two people sent me this cartoon they found on the internet during the fracas in Madison, WI last year. Then the student(from 26 years ago!) contacted me to tell me he had posted this on the net.

Google "Mr. Patterson" by John Porcellino

This made my whole career worthwhile. We teachers do not do it for the money. We do it to make a difference.

Congratulations, Are_grits_groceries. You really did make a wonderful difference. It's great to get feedback like this letter.

[iemitsu]

51. a wonderful commemorative cartoon.

i can see why you treasure this.
teaching is the most rewarding thing i've ever done (for a job). its hard and constant work and often goes unappreciated but when a teacher is told that they made a difference in a student's life all the work is worth it.
we may not live lives of luxury but we live with integrity.

[babylonsister]

52. That is so impressive; makes it all worthwhile, I bet.

Major props to you, teach!

[BadGimp]

53. You Know What That Is?

That's America!

I know my father would be proud knowing that he served his country for 21 years in the US Military, 2 of those years in a POW camp, and his service helped to support a nation that could enable people like this teacher and this student to realize their potential and work towards the common good.

God Bless America..

[Ztolkins]

54. Just a question...

Did you reply to this student?

[Are_grits_groceries]

55. Yes.

I thanked him and told him how proud of him and impressed I was. That's the gist of what I said.