The Impact of a Teacher

Some time ago, I attended the funeral of a dear friend of 23 years. Dave and I taught and coached together for a number of years.  At the funeral were some of our former students. Now, I normally dislike the "open mic time" that has become vogue at funerals as of late. Allowing anyone to stand up and say a few words about the deceased.  But, on this particular day, a couple of those former students (now grown men with families of their own) each took a turn saying more than a few words completely off the cuff.

They talked about the impact that this man had on their lives. That impact was deeper than some of the long forgotten daily curricular lessons.  They wanted to talk about the person, the passion he had for working with his students, the life lessons he was able to pass on, sometimes in the classroom and sometimes on the field of play.  They didn't talk about WHAT he taught them, as much as HOW he taught them.  Never allowing them to give less than HE expected of them which was often more that they had expected of themselves.  At the time, they didn't always like or appreciate it.  Now, they understood.

One of those former students told of this man teaching his students to be proud of who they were, where they were from, and what they represent.  He took that advice to heart and being a Native American chose to go work at the Meskwaki Settlement near Tama Iowa.  He works with Native American youth and helped start the Meskwake Settlement School football program.  He talked about passing those same life lessons he learned on to the youth he now works with.  Every time he teaches or coaches a child he uses the techniques, analogies and lessons that Dave had taught him.  Not only impacting one generation, but generations to come. It was these statements that really started me thinking about the true impact of a teacher.

We are given a rare gift when we get to teach children.  We have often heard that, as teachers, we raise up the doctors, lawyers, CEO's, nurses, mechanics, who go on to become productive leaders in their communities.  What we often don't realize is that when we touch the life of a child, we can be touching generations to come.  We often teach like we were taught (the good and the bad). If this is true, then this next generation will teach as we taught them (also the good and the bad).  This is powerful stuff. It is also a tremendous responsibility.

Our students may or may not remember specific skills or lessons we teach daily, but they will remember HOW we teach them. They will be impacted by the person teaching them, the passion they teach with, and how that person made them feel everyday.  Each moment during a day in school teachers are given a gift, a rare opportunity to make a difference, have an impact.  It's a big responsibility, but as a couple former students reminded me as we said goodbye to a friend and a mentor, its worth it.