If You Can Read This...

Mildred Pumphrey was my second-grade teacher at Jackson Road. After I told her I wanted to be a hairstylist, she came to my birthday party and gave me a book on hairstylists. Claire Breault, my eleventh-grade English teacher at Springbrook, taught me how to mine the why out of every story.

The above photograph, which I’m not in because I was in pm Kindergarten, is of a teacher who changed how I saw myself. I struggled with ADD as a child, which, in the 70s, was simply known as spacing out. I can remember the look on her face as she graded a math quiz I had just taken. She looked over the paper with deep concern wondering how I’d decided 1 plus 1 equaled 11.

Regardless of my inability to “get” math, Mrs. Woofter told me I was smart, speaking confidence in me at a time when I had a very limited supply.

These women and many more and some men, are the cornerstones of my development. Maya Angelou said, “People will forget what you said and what you did but they will never forget how you made them feel.” I was blessed to have teachers who made me feel capable, writerly and smart. As National Teacher Appreciation Week approaches (May 8-12, 2023), I hope you’ll take time to reflect on the teachers who made an impact on your life.