A2 + B2 = C2
Dear Miss Harvey,
I have found myself thinking about you many times throughout the years since my high school days. Those were a long time ago! You were my geometry teacher back then and you even saw fit to give me the Geometry Award that year. It was one of many difficult years in my life, but that Award was a bright spot! I don’t know if I thanked you… but, Thanks now.
One Homecoming we needed some leaves and branches for decorating or for on our float and you brought us to your home to get some. We got to see your beautiful woods and land. It was an unusual gesture to have a teacher be so kind and generous. Another time you gently scolded me about my behavior. I wasn’t used to such a quiet voice while being corrected. It made me think. It sunk in….. You were one teacher in a million. I believe you cared. Thank you.
I graduated in 1967 and left Evansville High School and Evansville forever. (Since my parents, and then my mother, lived there for several years, I did go back to visit!) I went on to the University and graduated with a teaching degree. I married and had a family. I was privileged to be able to stay home with my young children while helping my husband to run his business. Teaching was always in my heart, however. Later I worked for 12 years in an office while we put our kids through college – all four of them – and daughters, too! Soon after the youngest graduated I went back to school to update my teaching credentials and got certified in Special Education.
This is my second year teaching at Kettle Moraine High School. As hard as it is, I love it. I get to work with so many young people with so many needs and I can give them the love, discipline and encouragement that they crave. I have learned to use that quiet voice that always takes them by surprise. I hope I am following in your footsteps.
The reason I decided to write you is because I am co-teaching a geometry class this year. I love it. I am helping today’s ninth and tenth graders navigate that “dreaded” course! Because I support the students with special needs, as well, I am giving them access to the regular math curriculum. This is satisfying work. I understand that, though you are retired from teaching, you are still working with youth that have many and varied needs. The world is a better place because of you. Thank you. Your geometry student.
1 comment:
This is interesting. I was thinking about Miss Harvey just the other day. I liked her quiet way, and sense of humor. As teens, our perspective was different, but looking back we can see that our teachers were "real people", and we can appreciate why they made an impression on us.
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