By way of introduction to this post I would like to tell you that I belong to a group called Blog Energizer. I have been using their free program for a few years now but recently decided to take the plunge and upgrade my account to Premium status which provides me with bonus materials. One of the bonuses is that each month we receive an "assignment" to complete as we see fit with our own blog. This month the assignment is to blog about a teacher who has impacted our lives to such an extent that the lessons learned have been carried with us into our adult lives.

If I have to choose one teacher who made a profound impact on my life I have to say it was Mrs. Juk. 

Mrs. Juk was my grade 7 teacher. She was the “mean” teacher. 

No one wanted to be in her class!

I was so scared walking into her classroom on the first day of school I was trembling. I remember holding back tears and afterwards running home and begging my Mom to get me changed to the other grade 7 class. The one with the handsome, young, male teacher that all the girls mooned over. 

Ya right! Like my Mom was gonna do that! 

I don’t know that Mrs. Juk did anything specific but what I did learn was the “don’t judge a book by the cover” lesson.  As the school year progressed I discovered that although Mrs. Juk was strict in her expectations for behaviour in her classroom and she held high standards for her students’ academic progress she also had a fun side. We continued to learn to play the recorder but she also introduced us to the harpsichord, the bells and the guitar. She instilled in us a joy for singing. We learned to sing and play songs the meaning of which were years beyond our sheltered suburban 12 year old maturity level like “Little Boxes” written by Malvina Reynold, “Scarborough Fair” and “Hey Jude”.

Other lessons learned during my time in her classroom were about grief and empathy. Just prior to winter break the unthinkable occurred for one of our classmates. Roger’s Mom passed away. I don’t remember the details surrounding that situation but I do remember that Roger was away from school for a really long time and when he came back he was really sad. Sometimes he would cry. Mrs. Juk would walk over to him and give him a hug and speak quietly with him. She had spoken to the class prior to Roger’s return to school and explained to us that Roger is grieving and that this might happen. That it’s normal and it’s okay. I’m sorry to say that I didn’t have any words for Roger at the time but I did feel his pain and knew that it was not something I ever wanted to experience. 

All in all, Grade 7 was a great year and as I moved on to Junior High and beyond I often would stop by the old school just to say “Hi” to Mrs. Juk. She goes down in my memory book as one of my favorite teachers.

Do you have a favorite teacher from your past or a favorite from your child's past? Please share with us.