I'm tardy with this message for "2011 Teacher Appreciation Day" but, fortunately, late gratitude doesn't result in detention.
I was one of those kids that couldn't wait for the first day of school. Probably because I was fortunate enough to have some great teachers along the way, particularly in second grade. Mrs. Janelle Seaborne gets full credit for my love of monarch butterflies, spelling bees, and, most important, reading. Forty years later, I can name few pleasures that rival losing oneself in the pages of a good book.
Mrs. Nelda Wilbanks gets high marks for emphasizing art. And because she let my 4th-grade class listen to 45s on Fridays after lunch, I can also thank her for my Charley Pride appreciation.
Ms. Diane Locke taught me Algebra I and II, driver's education, and, according to my mother, swimming lessons at the Athens Country Club the summer I was three years old. The fact that I can still solve an algebraic equation, parallel park, and spend hours in the dead man's float proves she could teach just about anything.
I wish I could remember the name of my high school trigonometry and analytic geometry teacher. In the second half of my senior year, she awarded me with my first C+, thus tanking my overall class ranking. She assured me that any college admissions officer would be impressed by the fact that I took analytic geometry as an elective. And while that was a load of bunk, she did teach me that, if I really wanted to master something, I was going to have to work at it.
Dr. William Campion taught the mechanics of writing better than anyone. He was unforgiving when it came to grammatical errors or spelling mistakes, and demanded clear communication delivered with flair. The benefit of this lesson became apparent when one of my English professors correctly wrote "I don't think you actually read this book" across the top of one of my papers, but still gave me a B+ because of its pithiness. I also have Dr. Campion to thank for the fact that I was able to skate through SMU with a decent GPA by purposely choosing classes with final papers counting for more than 75% of one's ultimate grade.
Thank you, Phil Seib, for opening my eyes in your ethics of communication class.
Professor Jim Albright showed me it was possible to monetize my love of writing. He could be ruthless in his copy critiques, but his assessments always made me want to improve.
As I'm not blessed with many innate talents or a mind-blowing IQ, I can credit my successes to someone who was willing to teach me a skill or expose me to a new idea. Nine times out of 10, that person was an educator.
I give this profession an A+.
