On the Teacher Appreciation Week

My musings on this Teacher Appreciation Week:

Photo credit: Vasile Tomi

To my high school English teacher who said that I would never amount to anything because my parents were blue collar, I’m glad you were so wrong.

To my grammar and Romanian language and literature teacher, thank you for being so tough, I really learned a lot from you.

To my history teacher, Mrs. Avram, who challenged my thinking by playing the devil’s advocate, thank you. She was eventually allowed to immigrate to Israel under a strange deal Ceausescu made with Israel to allow Jews to repatriate in exchange for monetary payment in hard currency.

To our world literature teacher who brought his violin to class and played classical pieces that he thought matched the mood and the era of a novel we were reading and discussing, thank you. You taught me the love of music and the appreciation for fine writing.

To the math teacher who terrorized us with complex calculus that she could not solve herself, you taught me to be a better teacher than you were, to admit that I did not know something and that I should study it further instead of giving students a bogus answer.

To the gym teacher who tried to keep us physically fit and healthy even though we had so little food.

To the disciplinarian principal who did not mind doling our physical punishment as well as detention for the worst among us.

To the home room and physics teachers who tried very hard to indoctrinate us into the communist party, you failed miserably with me.

To the petite chemistry teacher who tried to teach us a lot of theory without the benefit of a lab and experiments - I learned the table of elements and enjoyed organic chemistry more.

To the home economics teacher who wore immaculately pressed clothes every day, thank you for teaching me how to sow, how to make clothes and a pattern, how to knit, cross stitch, and embroider. Unfortunately I failed at cooking because it bored me terribly. Who wants to be all day in the kitchen? Certainly not me. I like to cook simple food that does not require toiling in the kitchen for hours.