I've been trying to come up with the names of my teachers through the years, and am finding some disturbingly large holes in my memory. There are some teachers who I have always thought of fondly whose names I can't conjure, but worse there are entire classes and teachers of which I have almost no memory at all. While I know that my memory has left some blanks, I thought it was good to acknowledge those whom I do remember. This is, however, quite a list, and so this year I thought I would focus on my K-8 teachers (whom I can remember). I apologize for any spellings or memories that are off.
Kindergarten - Mrs. Huffman - Any person teaching kindergarten deserves acknowledgement
1st Grade - Mrs. Brick - Let me write and share Star Wars comics for our show and tell.
2nd Grade - Mrs. Bunting - Gave me my first chapter book - Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing
3rd Grade - Mrs. Gainsmiller - Strict, but pushed me to be one of the best at math
4th Grade - Mrs. Swenson - Tremendously encouraging at a time when I wanted to be anywhere but at school.
5th Grade - Mrs. Howe - Worked hard with a difficult group of kids in her first year at this grade level.
Middle School (6th-8th Grades) -
Mr. Wilson - English (6th), Science (6th), and (6th)? - I grew in a number of ways in his classes. He kept up with me enough that he knew elements from my life when we moved into his neighborhood.
Mr. Hammond - Social studies (6th) and math (6th) - I'm felt terrible about forgetting his name (although I since remembered) as I loved his classes.
Mr. ? - Band - I only had him for the one year, but he was encouraging during both class ad our one-on-one sessions.
Mr. Reihburg - Band (7th and 8th) - While I wouldn't stay in band, he also really encouraged my love of music
Mrs. ? - Art (?) - I remember having fun with some interesting art projects
Mr. ? - Phys. Ed. (6th) - stopped several students from bullying me in his class
Mrs. ? - Home Ec - I loved the roller-blades she often wore as much as making and eating baked goods.
Mrs. ? and Mrs. ? - All librarians deserve recognition, but these two in middle school were very supportive while I was a library aide. They also encouraged my early interest in computers.
Mrs. White - Science (7th) - Held me directly accountable for my frequent absences (I both had health issues and exaggerated those health issues to stay out of school) and encouraged me even more to look to the sciences.
Mr. Helsom - English (7th) and later typing (9th) - Not only was he extremely encouraging of my personal writing, give me advice on personal issues that I wasn't willing to discuss with anyone else, and give my mother the names of several other students who would become lifelong friends, he and I would later be colleagues at Baker College.
Mr. ? - Geography (7th) - I don't remember the class as much as I remember him being one of the chaperones (with at least Mr. Helsom) of our 7th grade trip, probably the highest point of my middle school experience.
Mrs. and Mr. ? - math (7th and 8th) - I think of this wife and husband as a team who taught me the fundamentals of algebra in a way that really resonated with me. They had high expectations and helped their students achieve them.
Mrs. ? - English (8th) - She forced us to memorize poetry, an activity which I felt was cruel at the time but now I greatly appreciate.
Mr. ? - Science (8th) - I hate that I can't remember his name either. He reminded me of a mad scientist in a good way. So many students didn't like him, but I thought he was amazing. He encouraged some of my "inventions" (such as the self-powered hover car) while steering me to a better understanding of the flaws in my designs.
Mr. ? - Computers - Gave me a book of machine code programs (of which I only made two and only one without mistakes so that it worked)
Mr. ? - Sex Ed./Careers (8th) - Another class that any person who is teaching deserves special recognition
The amount that I have forgotten is truly distressing to me. That I am guessing at some names and do not even having enough memory to guess for others does not do justice to these amazing people and the help they gave me.