Post 54: Everts and Kirby

This post I am going to dedicate to two past teachers of mine. Like a combined RateMyTeacher review, except longer and more detailed- and I haven't been in their classes in a while. Oh! And as for my RateMyTeacher and RateMyProf, they both might come up but I will do a whole post about them at a later date.

(I don't remember either of their marital statuses, so Ms. for both.)

So first, I want to take a moment to talk about Ms. Everts. (Patti Everts - Ensign Intermediate). I had Ms. Everts in 8th grade for English. At this time I was just starting to get into the real writing kick. I mean, I had dabbled in it before, but it wasn't such a big deal. When I brought her a story, she was so enthusiastic and encouraged me to continue writing, and so I did. I loved getting positive feedback and just hearing that someone had enjoyed something I'd worked to make. I don't think I really would have gotten to writing as much as I have if it weren't for her.

I liked English beforehand, I liked writing but I never really thought about it as something to do more actively. She gave me the courage to pursue creative writing and stories.

Now to talk about Ms. Kirby. I loved Ms. Kirby (Sue Kirby - Heritage Woods Secondary School), she was my English teacher in both grade 11 and grade 12. She was funny and she really tried hard to make the class fun and entertaining for everyone.

I've always been seen as a little strange, for a variety of reasons, but one reason was that I always loved English. Loved it like bees love flowers, ants like sugar, and cats love yarn. I mean, it has always been my favorite class, and before it was an individual class it was my favorite subject. The point is that I am one of those people who naturally enjoys English.

But not everyone does, and Ms. Kirby tried to make it enjoyable for everyone and a lot of the time she did. There is always those stick in the mud types that refuse to get with the program because being cynical and unimpressed is more "cool", but there was a lot of laughter in her classroom.

While Ms. Everts inspired me to write more stories, when I had gotten to 11th grade I had started branching out more into poetry. Poetry for me ranges from fun and light, to very personal. And Ms. Kirby encouraged me to write more and I got the same enjoyment out of writing poetry as I had with writing stories. Except in poetry, I could express more of my self if I choose to.

I mean, no matter what you write, your own personality is bound to rub off some, but poetry really lets you speak from your heart and soul (metaphorically speaking).

Anyway, if I had not had the privilege of studying under these two teachers I don't know where I would be. Stories and poetry have given me a release, an outlet to vent and express joys and frustrations. I honestly cannot imagine what kind of person I would be without writing, and without these great teachers.

 Have you had any teachers that left a lasting impression?
(Either good or bad.)