I got an email from a student who I taught 20 years ago:

[Are_grits_groceries]

So I graduated from South Lakes and did my undergrad at the University of Oregon (a world away from Northern VA). I studied biology and minored in chemistry with a focus on ecology. After graduating I worked seasonal wildlife biology jobs for a while in CA, OR and CO. After a while it became clear that this was not really enough and I needed to go back to school. I had a weird epiphany one day about becoming a high school science teacher so I did an M.A.T. with a focus on biology. I didn’t get a job anywhere that I wanted to live so I ended up spending just under a year traveling and working in Costa Rica as an ecological/tourist guide.

When I got back to the states I ended up getting a job working for a museum in OR directing an NSF funded project that was a natural resource management and technology career exposure program for Native American students focusing on salmon mitigation efforts with a major cultural integration component. I did this for 5 years and I’m currently a doctoral student at Oregon State University in the Science and Math Education Department focusing on free choice learning. I want to help facilitate outreach and education efforts for watershed scale restoration projects, I’m looking at ways to reach diverse stakeholders in these endeavors, particularly private land owners. I’m researching collaborative efforts and mechanisms for making inroads into rural communities where agriculture/logging is king. I want to try and change the way people approach land use and resource extraction. Ultimately I want to help create/enact land-use policy that will help balance natural resource extraction with ecological conservation. These are big goals and I’m just staring my Ph.D. and I’m already aware that I need to narrow my focus but I’m trying to clarify my interests.

Basically conservation and the preservation of wild areas have been a passion all my life. I’m studying different aspects of what goes into generating personal interests and emotions towards different subjects. I can now look back and recognize that your class had a huge impact on me at a critical period of my life. I don’t know if you meant to do this or not but the way your framed environmental issues and concerns really had a tremendous impact on me. I do see that other experiences helped establish my interests (my parents are avid outdoor people), but your class was instrumental in developing what has really been the driving passion for my professional career.

I have interacted with hundreds (if not thousands) of kids over the years and I’ve often thought if I can have the kind of impact on them you had on me I’ll die happy. I figured if you had the kind of impact on me that you did maybe I can reach some kids on the same level. I try to create a spark in them relating to environmental issues and think about ways that they can make a difference. I have stayed in touch with several former students of mine and some of them are indeed pursuing science careers.

I’m moving away from focusing solely on youth education now but I will continue to be involved in activities like citizen science projects designed towards promoting ecological literacy across different age groups.

Anyhow I’ve tried to get in touch with you a few times over the years, I called the Fairfax County school district etc but no dice until now. Hopefully this doesn’t freak you out, I just wanted you to know that you reached at least one of your students on a truly profound level and really helped shape my whole life’s work and passions. I can’t help but think I’m not the only one…

So here you go, 20 years later. I just wanted to make sure you know these things.

Thanks.


You never know. Ya know. I am utterly speechless.

[CurtEastPoint]

1. Kudos on a job well done; and to the young person, also! n/t

[Sukie]

2. You should take great pride in that letter.

Congratulations on being the kind of teacher that made a difference.

[johnnie]

3. That's so cool

You must be beaming.

[Are_grits_groceries]

9. This is unbelievable to me.

You never know how you affect the kids you are teaching. My motto was "First do no harm." If they were having any problems I didn't want to make them worse, and I didn't want to send anybody new into the streets screaming. I got around to science in the interim.

This email is worth my whole career in teaching. I'm not sure if people understand how meaningful something like this is.

That kid had it in him. I just uncovered a corner of what was there. A lot of people helped dig out his curiosity and intensity. Getting this email is like being told that a specimen you found and sent on for more info had turned out to be a diamond.

[handmade34]

11. awesome!

that e-mail is so valuable. ...I once in awhile think about contacting a former High School teacher that changed my life... when I was teaching a parent approached me in town and explained how her son talked of me and how my work with him had made a difference; it is a fine thing...

[SallyMander]

4. That's awesome

Good for you, and good for your student for taking the time to send this to you. It must mean a whole lot. :)

[DemReadingDU]

5. Wow, what a day brightener!

You must feel so proud to know you made such an impact on this former student. (and probably others)

Thank you for sharing, good job!

[depakid]

6. +1,000

Now, if the student could only manage to bring some of that sensible Oregon land use planning ideas back to NoVa....

[etherealtruth]

7. It certainly says a lot about you!

[chill_wind]

8. Good on ye! And that's what it's all about.

Both my parents were public school educators. My Dad passed away last, about 2 years ago. NOTHING meant more to him in his late life and brightened his day and his face more than those occasional encounters with kids who remembered him with respect and affection, and volunteered a recollection of his touch in their young lives.

Good stuff.

[Are_grits_groceries]

10. Nothing does! nt

[elehhhhna]

12. you rock.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

13. K&R.

Made me cry to boot.

[myrna minx]

14. What a wonderful birthday present!! K&R n.t

[Are_grits_groceries]

15. It was indeed.

The very best!

[ezgoingrl]

16. Fantastic!

n/t

[rox63]

17. That seed you planted 20 years ago

Has gone on to produce a tremendous harvest of scientific and environmental learning in kids you've never even met.

[BunkerHill24]

18. Job well done, Are_grits_groceries

Congratulations :thumbsup:

K&R

[DrZeeLit]

19. YIPPPPEEEE! See? You Rock! Isn't this why you went into education? No, not for the accolades,

(which are BRILLIANT by the way) but for the whole "paying it forward" moment.

YOU (YES YOU!) have LIVED this:

Each time a person stands up for an ideal,
or acts to improve the lot of others...
he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope,
and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring,
those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

Robert F. Kennedy (1925 - 1968)



I am a teacher and I salute you! I'm in this profession also, because of people like you!
Thank goodness for people like you!

[Are_grits_groceries]

21. I went into it for the high pay and marvelous benefits.

Seriously, this is really the only reason to teach. If you aren't trying to influence the future in a positive way somehow, why are you there?

I told my students it wouldn't break my heart if they didn't become scientists. I told them it would be an awful waste though if they didn't find something they loved to do and gave it a shot.

[sabrina 1]

20. Dupe n/t

[havocmom]

22. That was quite a validation! I got a PM recently....

somebody with some grits mentioned "...I had absolutely no idea that I was important to some people..."

Guess this is your week for seeing just how important you are!

Many thanks to the former student who took the time to track you down and let you know what you started by inspiring a young person. Glad they let you know some of the legacy you will leave.

Am so happy for you. Gonna be YOUR year!

[abelenkpe]

23. South Lakes High School???

I went there too.

Graduated in 84.

Small small world...

[lunatica]

24. Way to go!

I know a few professors who have that kind of impact on students. They are so influential and impart such passion that many times it changes the course of the students' lives completely.

I'm impressed.

[sabrina 1]

25. Great tribute to you ~

Congrats on making such a great contribution to the future ~ :applause:

[bertman]

26. You're a lucky woman to get a letter like this. I had quite a few really good and inspiring

teachers who I wish I had thanked, but I did not.

Congratulations on being an inspirational teacher.

[Are_grits_groceries]

27. Contact them if you can.

It means the world.

[bertman]

35. That would require a seance.

:)

[Are_grits_groceries]

37. Heh!

Just talk to them one day. Teachers always hear more than you think they can no matter where they are.

[bertman]

39. Great idea, Are_grits_groceries. I shall.

[LWolf]

28. The feedback we get years down the line

is what makes the job worthwhile, imo.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[vadawg]

29. eek south lakes, you wouldnt recognize that palce nowadays

its more like the fall of berlin....

[Are_grits_groceries]

30. I'm not surprised.

The tales I could tell from 20 years ago are enough to make your head spin.

[Are_grits_groceries]

31. I wonder if any of them remember my 'hair on fire' speech

when Desert Storm started. They were all gungho and ready to go. The excitement was growing, and then one of them made some remark. I don't even remember what it was.

I didn't raise my voice. I looked at them and asked them how many of them were going to be fighting. That was an obvious zero. I then asked them if they knew anybody who was going to be deployed. I got another zero.

I told them that if they had reasons that they thought were important enough for us to be starting this fight, then so be it. I then told them, however, that if they weren't willing to watch a person they loved dearly go into that chaos, then I didn't want to hear it. Don't send people you don't even know into harm's way unless it is worth it enough to you to send your own.

They got all big-eyed and sat quietly for a while. I expected groups of parents to descend on me, but I never heard a word.

I taught science, but that rarely stopped me from talking about something else if it came up. I tried to respect what they had to say, but I would call bullshit.

[HillWilliam]

83. And that's why I'm a fan of yours right now

You still do call bullshit where you see it, dear. That's a trait my granddaddy passed to me. Doesn't make us very popular very often, but we can sleep at night.

Teachers are a combination of superstar and martyred saint in my book. I owe everything I am to but a special handful of them. But those few made all of the difference and I'm grateful to them daily.

[Are_grits_groceries]

88. I got it from my Grandaddy too.

I'm sure there's a gene. Going against the grain may give me splinters, but it beats sliding down the wrong path.

[LuckyLib]

86. No wonder you're a memorable teacher. Too few of them ever speak the truth, and you clearly did.

Kids connected with you on many levels. What a wonderful tribute to you -- I'm circulating your memo to faculty at my university in Science Education -- it should be passed on to their students with the suggestion that they work toward a goal of receiving a letter like this someday. Congratulations!

[Are_grits_groceries]

92. Thanks.

Kids know BS too. They can detect it miles away if you start to sling it. I started one lesson trying to be fired up about it, and then I stopped and said, "This bores me to tears. You have got to be uninterested." And I had written it up. We started over in freeform, and it may not have been the greatest but it was better.

[JackDragna]

32. I hope I get a letter like that some day.

All I get now are curses and venom from students who complain how hard my classes are. :)

[Are_grits_groceries]

33. Believe me, I heard my share of those.

Don't ever take it personally. They would say the same thing if you were teaching them to play a video game they were desperate to try.

If I was fair, they would bitch, but they would be okay. It was when somebody felt that another student had been given preferential treatment that trouble could happen.

The one thing I told them NEVER to do at me was whine. That was my line in the chalkdust.

[hootinholler]

34. Somehow MEH Ketteh just doesn't fit that OP.

My high impact teacher was Named Judd Nicola. I've stayed in technology since high school.

-Hoot

[Are_grits_groceries]

36. Meh Kitteh liked the students.

She just never could put up with the BS from the admins and parents. Meh Kitteh would offer to help, but she never took any shit.

[LibDemAlways]

38. Twenty-five years ago I taught 7th and 8th grade English and

Social Studies at a parochial school. Increasingly frustrated that I wasn't making an impact, I gave up teaching after five years and tried my hand at a few other things. Then I took a long break to raise my daughter. Two years ago I went back to teaching as a substitute. I needed a recommendation from the old school. Of course, the principal I knew was long gone, but I thought the current administrators could pull out my dusty personnel file and find some glowing performance reviews in there. I called the current principal, and low and behold, he is one of my 8th graders from long ago. He sounded very happy to hear from me and wrote a really nice letter explaining that I had sparked his lifelong interest in drama and acting in community theater. He also said I was one of his inspirations for getting into education.

A teacher truly never realizes the impact he or she has had unless and until a former student surfaces. I'm glad yours was able to contact you.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

40. I think by posting this you violated your former student's trust

There are a ton of identifying details. They wrote this to YOU personally. I doubt they expected it to be posted for the masses.

Just my opinion.

[Are_grits_groceries]

41. Thank you for completely dumping on the end of my day and

making me feel like a piece of shit about what had been a very happy moment.

I was so excited when I got this email, that I wanted to share. The people at DU are pretty much those who I 'talk' to anymore.

I never intended to do something that would embarass this student. That is the LAST thing I would want to do. I will email him and let him know and apologize.

again, thanks for your thoughts.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

42. If someone writes you a deeply personal message filled with minute details of THEIR

life, I would consider it a private message.

I understand your euphoria in getting that message - as a person and a teacher, there can be no higher reward than in having someone tell you years later that YOU MADE A DIFFERENCE and YOU CHANGED THEIR LIFE. I honestly and truly applaud you for that.

My point was just that perhaps you could have respected their privacy and still posted the message, shared the joy, and left out some of the personal details.

I wasn't trying to ruin your day, even though it may have seemed that way, but it needed to be said.

I think it is amazing and wonderful that you were/are that great of a teacher and I am sure there are many more like the one that wrote you, they just haven't expressed it - they live it without you even knowing.

[Are_grits_groceries]

43. Thank you again.

Your point was perfectly clear and expressed incisively. You have done your duty and done it well. I also understood THEIR after the first post.

It would seem that I offended you personally. Perhaps the next time such a message needs to be delivered, it can be leavened with some consideration for the person you are giving it to. You may not have intended to affect my day, but you could have thrown cold water on me just as well.Every time I even think about it now, it much less enjoyable.

And don't mock what it meant to me with your late interpretation. I feel bad enough as it is now.

I will go and sin no more.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

44. You never offended me personally

and I certainly did not mean or intend to mock(?) you with my late interpretation(?) -
I honestly don't know what you mean by that.

Please don't feel like you have to reply or take this further. I almost regret my post but I still think it was a valid observation.

[kag]

56. I don't post much

...but I just have to respond to this. How utterly cruel and senseless to assume you know the relationship between this obviously exceptional teacher and her obviously exceptional former student. If I had written a letter like that to a former teacher (and I've been inspired to after reading this thread) I wouldn't care if it was printed in the newspaper. The student obviously intended to convey warmth, pride, and gratitude--all things that are often shared with friends and acquaintances when received.

You were way out of line.

Are_grits, you needn't worry what this idiot thinks about you having shared this joyous moment with us. Drink up the praise, and let it warm your heart, knowing that your former student would wish you to share this story with people who would appreciate it.

[kag]

58. AND BESIDES...

Looking over the letter again, I didn't see that much truly personal info anyway. Lots of names of schools where lots of other students have gone to study perhaps the same thing this person did. No names. No affiliations other than historical and not a thing about politics or religious beliefs.

Just get a grip, and THINK the next time you feel like taking a crap on someone else's good news.

:rant:

[Hekate]

52. I went from feeling full of vicarious joy for you to feeling a little sick from the cruelty...

... of what I see as unwarranted criticism.

Please pay no attention to this person's jaundiced views. I seriously doubt the Secret Service is fishing for info on someone's innocent life of devotion to environmental science and their praise of you for setting their feet on that path.

Please -- give someone the Iggy Prize and go back to feeling full of joy. :hug:

Hekate

[puebloknot]

46. Hey, teach. Don't pay any attention to the kid who sits in the back of the classroom ...

... chewing gum, throwing spitballs, and paying no attention to what you have to offer. The letters don't come from that source!

Exult in that letter. I'm doing it with you!

[Are_grits_groceries]

47. Thanks.

The letter was unexpected and so was that last. I am going to enjoy it.

[tomm2thumbs]

49. it was obviously something that was meant to be shared - fear not

now, get that good mood flowin' again because greeting cards and thank you's are meant to be shared around the room! Congrats again.

[puebloknot]

45. You're the dark cloud on a sunny day that everyone hopes will stay away ...

... from the picnic -- metaphorically speaking.

I can't help thinking the writer of that marvelous letter would agree with me. The teacher clearly is a cut above the norm, and deserves every word of praise in that letter. When I finished it, I thought that no matter how negative things get, all it takes is one person expressing heartfelt appreciation, like the letter writer, to keep hope living and breathing.

[RetroLounge]

70. Always one idiot has to shit on a real nice thread.

:eyes:

RL

[tomm2thumbs]

48. there's a fuse that was well-lit - congratulations!!

you should be glowing and rightfully so

[Malikshah]

50. A number of people I know in academia keep the cards they receive from students in their desks

Think of it as the occasional "hit" one needs on those days when all seems lost.

Cherish that--like your student's achievements, it was earned. :)

[roguevalley]

57. Sometimes its all you remember that month. :) This is lovely. Congrats!

[Hekate]

51. That letter deserves framing. What an unforgettable moment.

I come from a long line of teachers and Mr. H is a teacher. I know how much it means to you to get this letter.

Congratulations and :toast:

Hekate

[Lost-in-FL]

53. That's wonderful!!!

I am happy for you! :party: :party: :toast:

[condoleeza]

54. You have every right to be proud of yourself

I had ONE teacher who made a difference in my life. He wrote in my HS yearbook, my senior year, To Connie, who enlivened, corrupted and attended my class - almost daily. I loved that because it was so him. We had HUGE discussions about politics and war and society (it was '67 and my fiance was in Vietnam - where he died in March '68 - yeah we did things a lot younger then) and I still can remember almost verbatim many lectures he gave about human rights and about corporations. He completely shaped my life and I shudder to think what I would be doing now if not for him.

31 years later (11 yrs. ago) I saw a wedding announcement in the paper, he was marrying a woman who was a year BEHIND me in school. He had been her mentor, his wife of 50 years had died the prior year. I couldn't resist, I looked him up and invited him over for lunch. It was one of the best afternoon's of my life. At nearly 80 he was still a pistol, still involved, still vital and such a love I have for him, he is still alive and still no doubt a troublemaker.

Your student wrote to you because he never forgot the influence you had on him and I cannot imagine a finer compliment and you should accept it as a major affirmation of your career, IMO. I have loved Ben Jarrett all these years and quite honestly, there are few weeks that I don't think about him several times. A good teacher is worth more than gold.

[avaistheone1]

55. Congrats. You must be one helluva a teacher and a person to have received this letter/

Wow.

[BrklynLiberal]

59. Wow. That is a wonderful letter..and you must be a wonderful teacher...

[NJCher]

60. this is what we teachers live for

Most people just don't understand it, but this is it.

Thanks for sharing it.

Students so seldom take the time or trouble to give us this feedback and I, as a student, am just as guilty. There are several teachers I'd like to thank but I'm baffled at how to find them.

Hugs, _grits_. :hug:

You did all of us teachers some good today. :)


Cher

[Sinti]

61. Well done :)

That's what it's all about, isn't it? :toast:

[leveymg]

62. Congratulations and KNR!

[saracat]

63. What a wonderful tribute. We don't oftenknow how we have positvely affected others. You AND your

student are wonderful. Revel in your moment.

[ClayZ]

64. Beautiful! K and R

[Swagman]

65. Hey !..I'm on the other side of the world..and your student's email made my day

I would think that student would be delighted with your post.

thank you:toast:

well done as a teacher as well !!

[Are_grits_groceries]

66. Thanks!

I'm not kiding when I say I didn't expect it.

Your name gave your country away. I've always wanted to visit Austrailia.

[rasputin1952]

67. That speaks volumes as how you've touched others...

Odds are, there are others out there that you have an impact on...a very positive impact.

Knowing that you have made such an impression is very warming, not just to the individual who wrote the e-mail, but to those of us who have had the pleasure of knowing you as well.

Job well done...:hug:

[IrateCitizen]

68. + 1,000,000...

One of the best and worst things about teaching -- you can have an incredible impact upon the students you teach, but oftentimes won't know it until years after they are in your classroom.

[Stargazer09]

69. You ought to frame that!

What a wonderful letter!

[BonnieJW]

71. Suggest The National Wildlife Federation

They are always looking for PhD's in this field. One of their goals is maintaining wild places. I worked for them for two years and got quite an education. The people are fabulous.

[John Q. Citizen]

72. Wow! That is quite the achievement. Congratulations on probably the most

important and meaningful award and recognition you will probably ever receive.

Now back to work!

[kestrel91316]

73. Wow, cool! There are a few teachers from my childhood who I would

love to give an update and thanks to, but have no way of finding them. Schools won't release ANY former teacher info.

[Are_grits_groceries]

74. He found me on Facebook. nt

[mike_c]

75. awesome....

That's great!

[Captain Hilts]

76. I just love that sort of thing. nt

[tblue37]

77. I get those, too, sometimes--students who tell me their lives

were changed for the better because of having had me as a teacher. One young man told me that the discussions in my English 101 class changed his way of viewing himself and his world, to the point where it actually helped him deal with cancer when he got it ten years after bing in my class.

We teachers don't get paid much, and we often work in pretty demoralizing conditions, but that sort of feedback is the real "pay" we get for doing our jobs to the best of our ability. (BTW, I teach college English.)

[catzies]

78. Very very very nice. You deserved it.

You are an awesome person.

[KoKo]

79. Thanks....good to hear this! Thanks for sharing.

[Lifelong Protester]

80. Awesome on you! I received one of those lately also

from a student who is now working between here and Mexico. He never thought he would need Spanish. Now he can't do his job without it. Always takes my breath away (and brings tears to my eyes) when I hear from a student, out of the blue, that I changed their life.
I also got a thank you note from a graduate of last year's senior class. She told me that because of being in my classes she now wanted to see the world, know other people, appreciate their culture.

Cheers to you!

Now I say, I can retire happy!!

[sharp_stick]

81. Fantastic

I think I may try to hunt down one or two teachers that really made a difference to me. One or two of them might be a little surprised to learn that I'm actually a productive member of society instead of a parolee. ;-)

Congratulations on getting this, you should be damned proud.

[sudopod]

82. =) nt

[bobshin]

84. I've been attempting to do the same for my 6th grade teacher...

she changed my life and I have always wanted to thank her if I could find her. This is why I envy people who teach. The have the power to influence their students in many unknowable ways.

[Blue_Tires]

85. wonderful...be proud...

[enigmatic]

87. I love this

You made a huge positive difference in that person's life and you should be commended.

Well done!:applause:

[nyc 4 Biden]

89. nothing better than a great teacher.

:hug: for you.

BTW, you're 100% correct in posting that letter. thank you for sharing!

[Greyhound]

90. K&R. Very cool.

[RedCappedBandit]

91. You must be an excellent teacher to leave such an impact.

GJ!

[nikto]

93. A Child Not Left Behind

How nice!

[deerheadgal]

94. Inspired to Act

Your posting was wonderful (notwithstanding the obligatory crap-on-it followup that seems to be the "cool" thing to do these days.) I have often thought of contacting a teacher who changed my life. You have inspired me to wait no longer. May there be many former teachers who get thank you letters as a result of your sharing today.

[Enthusiast]

95. What a great feeling!

Well done.

[Dinger]

96. That Is Such A Wonderful Story. Thank You!

Teaching is such a rewarding career. I feel so lucky to be living my dream.:)

[HCE SuiGeneris]

97. Great letter. Thanks for sharing, and for making a difference. There is a great program

at the U of Victoria -- "Restoration of Natural Resources" -- that endeavors to equip its Grads with the tools to accomplish what your previous student is attempting. Almost went there 2 years ago... and now REALLY wish that I had.

Best to you, and the writer.