Today marks the beginning of Teacher Appreciation Week. Tomorrow, we will announce our 2016 Envisionary Educators of The Year awards, but today we’d like to start the week off by sharing some of the Envisionary teachers that inspired our team.
We asked Envision team members, “Who inspired you?” and they came back with some incredible stories. Here are the seven best examples of Envisionary teachers who compelled us to work in the education business.
1) Dedicated to Students After School
Attending the smallest public school in the state of Maryland, I was lucky enough to build strong relationships with so many amazing teachers over the years. But I’m partial—the teacher(s) who inspired me the most would have to be my parents.
My mother, Lucy Sterner, taught high school English in the neighboring School District for 35 years before retiring several years ago. My father, Bill Sterner, also taught high school English, and is still in the classroom after guiding me through Shakespeare and Moby Dick (his favorite novel) in the 10th and 12th grade over 15 years ago.
Both of my parents were great teachers in the classroom, but it was their dedication outside of the school walls that really inspired me. I remember, for example, my mother often staying up late into the night—after carpooling to sports practices, making dinner, and checking my homework—grading papers and preparing lesson plans. I remember my father spending hours a day coaching with young athletes in my school—a passion of his—after an already long day in the classroom.
The accountability they both felt for the success of their students, and the often thankless hours spent supporting and inspiring young leaders in and out of the classroom has given me a lifelong appreciation for all teachers.
- Bethany Sterner, Director, Product Marketing, Emerging Markets
2) Opened My Eyes
Mrs. Nupson, my high school English teacher, was one of the many great teachers with whom I was privileged to study. While I was definitely not her best student; she opened my eyes to the power of language and the beauty of poetry. It was through Ms. Nupson that I first confronted the majesty and depth of Coleridge, and the natural but erudite minds of the Romantics.
I was an avid reader when I first landed in Mrs. Nupson’s 10th grade English class, but books and language was simply narrative or logic—nothing that inspired or motivated. Mrs. Nupson’s passion for literature, poetry, and creative writing opened my eyes to the passion of language and the excitement of ideas. She exponentially increased my perspective of the world and the ideas that it contains.
During my own tenure as a teacher in a high school classroom in Connecticut, my students experienced the legacy of Mrs. Nupson as they explored Plato, Aquinas, Coleridge, Tennyson, and many others. To paraphrase Aristotle, “Thank you Mrs. Nupson for helping me, and eventually my students, become fully human.”
- Andrew Potter, Chief Academic Officer
3) Made the Odyssey Relevant
In 8th grade I had an English teacher who opened my world… Mrs. Bennett introduced us to big issues through the eyes of literature and set us off on an exploration of self-discovery and writing that has had a lifelong impact on me.
Mrs. Bennett made the Odyssey relevant, made us imagine we were Anne Frank (and brought in Holocaust Survivors to share their stories), she introduced us to social injustice and human rights in a way that inspired us to take a stance. Today, I make a living thinking outside the box, writing, imagining, and developing strategic ideas into relevant stories and messages—I have a great teacher to thank for setting me on my path to success.
- Erin McCahill, Vice President of Marketing Communications
4) Held Me to A Higher Standard
While I was lucky to have a lot of great teachers in my life, there are few who stick out as ones who inspired me, but the one who had the most lasting impact would be Ms. DaSilva—my AP US History teacher my senior year. I always loved history and I have a great memory for remembering historical facts and that made history an easy subject for me in school.
She saw that I needed more of the analysis and pushed me to better understand the importance of historical analysis and how to improve my writing. She held me to a higher standard than of my peers because she knew I needed the challenge and she also was a great person to talk to about wanting to be a history teacher.
Because of her I was more prepared for upper level history classes in college as a freshman and her spark and enthusiasm for history were traits I wanted to emulate when I had my own classroom. I’m lucky that we’ve kept in touch and she was a great mentor when I was a young teacher and someone I now consider a friend.
- Erin Koster, Manager of Academic Affairs
5) Pushed Me Past My Limits
Many of my past teachers can be considered “inspirational;” however, one in particular is directly responsible for certain events, leading me to where I am at Envision today. My art teacher in high school, Ms. Souve, always pushed me past my limits. My most memorable example would be the day I placed best of show in the Congressional Art Competition in my region of Central Florida.
Ms. Souve drove to my house on the last day for submissions, after school hours, to get a parent release on my then-freshman year self-portrait, in colored pencil on black paper. Winning this show was true proof of her dedication as an exceptional educator, that she would take the time from her own evening affairs to secure a signature and enter a submission form, mailing it for me at her own expense.
If it wasn’t for her belief in my abilities as a traditional artist and a student, I would not have pursued art as a major and would not be a designer today. En lieu of her efforts, my piece was displayed for an entire year in the Congressional Building in Washington, DC and I was pre-awarded a scholarship to my alma-mater, Savannah College of Art & Design. Her initiative inspired within me the confidence that I can and have done great things as a creative individual, and will continue to do so.
- Crystal Cederstrom, Email Marketing Designer
6) Transformed History from Dull to Interesting
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Mr. Henry’s ability to transform high school world history from dull, dry pages of text to interesting stories that a group of 17-year-olds would engage with was one of many of his talents. Mr. Henry opened a world of possibilities to his students, exposing them to worlds, cultures, and lessons that were far beyond the reaches of our small, southern town. He also challenged us to think of past and current events not from our small world view, but through the eyes and experiences of others.
I certainly didn’t realize it at the time, but it was Mr. Henry who sparked my curiosity to learn more about the world and open myself to new experiences both past, present, near and far. Mr. Henry was also an amateur geologist. He always had a rock or two in his pocket, and if you were willing to listen they had amazing stories to tell.
Thank you, Mr. Henry, for setting me on the path of learning and exploration. I hope it never ends.
- Samantha Byrd, Vice President of Human Resources
7) Assigned Classroom Activities that Were Actually Fun
While I was studying English at my undergraduate university, one of my professors was particularly influential. He taught my Shakespearean literature class, which, if you’ve ever tried to understand the War of the Roses, you know how convoluted and confusing some of the family names and affiliations can be.
In his determination to make all of us love Shakespeare as much as he did, he made every effort to make his class as interactive as possible. We were “voluntold” to do these group assignments and classroom activities that actually turned out to be fun—like swordfights with paper towel rolls taped together on the campus lawns and potlucks where everyone brought a dish Shakespearean characters would have eaten.
We acted scenes out and made videos of them (which I hope no longer exist), and grew to understand and love Shakespeare. When I became a teacher myself, I followed in my professor’s footsteps and made every lesson interactive, even if just a small amount. Every year, I still have students tell me how much it meant to them to learn this way.
- Shannon Berry, Manager, Congressional Affairs
Do you have a story of an Envisionary educator who inspired you?
Inspiring photos by Geoff Livingston.
background-image: a building with the American flag in front of it