By Tamisha Curry

When I think of a teacher who truly inspired me, only one comes to mind, my fourth
grade math teacher, Mr. Sylvester Hagan, at Brentwood Elementary School. Mr.
Hagan inspired me to make goals for myself, short and long term goals, not only in
school achievement, but lifelong goals. He was a very loving and caring person. Mr.
Hagan always expected excellence from all of his students. He did not have to
demand respect it always came willingly, because he modeled all the attributes
before his students on a daily basis. Mr. Hagan inspired us to reach our fullest
potential by sharing a wealth of knowledge and going the extra mile for us- staying
after school for tutoring, buying supplies for the classroom, giving us extra
incentives for our academic and behavioral achievements, and so much more.
Although he was hired to teach math, we learned far more than the fundamentals of
math. I honor Mr. Hagan for paving the way for me to become that GREAT student,
college graduate receiving my Master’s Degree, becoming an elementary education
teacher, and being chosen as Oak Hill’s 2010-2011 Teacher of the Year. Everyone
gets drilled with certain lessons in life. Sometimes it takes repeated demonstrations
of a given law of life to really get it into your skull, and other times one powerful
experience drives the point home once forever. My educational experience with Mr.
Hagan was my source in receiving and maintaining that power!

By Chelsea Rountree
You hear people say the quote, Music is everything. However, I never truely knew
what it meant to rely on music to get me through each and every day. I started
playing drums in the 7th grade, by ear. I taught myself. Then, as I went into high
school, I was going to join the band, but the guidance counselor told me that I
already had to know how to read music in order to get in. So, I joined chorus
instead. The next summer, my dad called over to the school and asked about the
drumline and the band director, Michael Johnson, invited me to play. That was the
start. He believed in me, just a church drummer. He believed that i had what it took
to help better the high school band. He continued to believe in me for the remainder
of my high school years. He had so much faith in me that he chose me to be the
Percussion Captain. However, it wasnt jsut music that he taught me. He taught me
how to be compassionate about something. He taught me about teamwork and
relying on others. He helped me through personal struggles completely unrelated to
music. He was like a second father to me and would stop at nothing to see that I
succeeded. Michael MJ Johnson changed my life.

By Cortney Daugherty
I walked into my son's high school a couple of years ago and I was introduced to the
new school system. I counted more administrators walking around chatting and
holding onto the clipboard. Not much work. I knew that the school system was in
touble and needed to be fixed. The school system has too many administrators and
not enough teachers in the classroom. If more money was the answer then our
schools would be the best

By Sharnetta Gallman
My AP Psychology teacher, Ms. Shellie Camp, changed my life in so many ways.
She always encouraged me to follow my dreams despite any obstacles. She
beleived in me and challenged me to put forth my best effort at all times. To this
day, I remember her compassion and patience as she worked with her students. I
remember her being dependable and willing to help her students succeed. I always
enjoyed being around her and being in her class.

By PeDro Cohen
My favorite teacher was and is Mrs. Grovena Parker, who was my 11th grade English
teacher at Raines High School. She was my modern day Mya Angelou a lady with so
much grace and class that until this day her presence and teaching style still
impacts me. However, the day that will live with me for the rest of my life is when
she told me I was trying to be a thug when I had greatness all over me and that I
would one day make a great husband to someone. For a 16 year old that was a bit
much, but it has stuck with me till this day. She left me with an appreciation of
culture and literature that I still have to this day and she has impacted so much of
my professional work as well.

By Ramie Stradley
The teacher who changed my life was Joyce Kennedy. She was a kindergarten
teacher at San Jose Elementary for over 20 years. While I was never in her
classroom, she changed my life and the lives of countless children who went to San
Jose Elementary during the 1980s and 1990s. Joyce Kennedy was my grandmother
and taught me throughout my life that love is the greatest lesson of all. She
dedicated her life to all of the children she taught during her years at San Jose. In
the last part of her career, Ms. Kennedy became an ESOL teacher. Her goal was to
reach the minds of early learners who were just moving to this country. She wanted
to make their transition to their new home as easy as possible. I remember she told
me, she believed one of the most destructive forces in our society is hate and that
hate is a learned trait. No one is born with the inherent ability to hate another
group. She marveled at the fact all of the children in her kindergarten class would
get along and work together, regardless of race, class, or gender. Joyce Kennedy
was a remarkable teachers and her legacy will shine on through all of the lives she
touched.

By Tabitha Dipietro
My teacher is Mrs.Martin has changed my life so much my life before i met
Mrs.Martin was a bad time for me i was not in a good place for a little girl . My dad
was mean to me about my homework he was really mean to me about my math
homework he said i was dumd in not ever goning to be good at math ever in my
life .i was really mad in sad that my own father said that to his own child i will never
forgive him for saying that to me but now its really hard for me to do my math
homework without thinking what my dad said to me .Now me in my dad are not
good but i have to love him sometimes i think he hates me but he doesnt he loves
me in cares for me sometimes i wish i can go back in time in change what my dad
said to me that day .When i changed schools to the DePaul school my teacher
Mrs.Martin helped me out on how to do math much better she taught me a lot more
then my other school my new school cares for me my other school didnt care for me
at all .My life would still be in a bad place because of my dad but Mrs.Martin helped
me out thought it in my teacher changed my life!

By Stephen timpe
My teacher Mrs.Charboneau from last year has been one of my fav teachers in my
life so far. She saw me when I became a christan. Mrs.Charboeau has made my
work easy for me. Also she loves me, and I love her like my parents. Plus shes my
Moms friend on facebook and for real life. Thats how Mrs.Charboneau changed my
life.

By Jessica Downs
A teacher that impacted my life would definitely be Mrs. Martin. She helped me
realize that Im a lot smarter than I think. She helped me see that I will be great in
life. She pushed me until I did things right. Mrs. Martin always makes sure that
every student knows how to do something before she gives it to them. I have only
had Mrs. Martin for a year and she has already changed my whole life a great
amount. She is also a great person to talk to when I need someone. She is not only
a teacher but, she is like my second mother. When she sees that Im upset about
something she will always cheer me up. My whole family loves Mrs. Martin because
she will always be watching out for me and everything I do. The teachers that I had
in the past never worked with me as much as Mrs. Martin did. She actually cared
about my grades and my future. She always took the time to teach me something I
didnt understand. When other teachers just gave it to me and expected me to do it
when I didnt understand any of it. Mrs. Martin will explain everything thoroughly to
make sure everyone understands. I used to makes Ds and Fs in public schools. Now,
Im making straight As. My family and I are definitely a lot happier now that my
grades are much better.

By Jasmine Sage-Kras
I go to DePaul School at Jacksonville, Beach Fl. Ive been going to DePaul School for
about four years now. Recently I got moved up to this teacher. I was afraid of her
because she was strict and I heard bad things about her. Her name is Mrs. Knight
and I have never been in her class for the four years Ive been at DePaul. Im leaving
DePaul School this year because Im in eighth grade. Believe it or not she helped me
understand. She helped me when I needed it and when I didnt understand much.
She also helped me speak better English. A lot of people gives her a chance. They
just think she is mean. When she is not, she is just trying to teach you. We do have
funny times in our class, but when it comes to work she wants you to get it and
understand it. She helped me a lot in my life more then words can say. I want to do
this because everyone needs to give her a chance and shell do the same for you.
One more thing is she is a good person to talk to when your down and I know with
all my things going on in my life I could always talk to her about it. I had a very hard
time in math class, but she took the time to help me understand everything.

By Kim McDougal
Out of all the teachers I've had, only a few stand out in my mind. One of them was
my Word Processing teacher when I was attending Taylor Business Institute in
Chicago many years after high school. I can't remember her name, but her teaching
technique I shall never forget. She was a hard teacher and she seemed to be
especially hard on me. The classwork and homework overloaded me everyday and
there were times I dreaded going to her class. Nevertheless, I wanted to pass so
badly so I worked really hard to get A's. It seemed to me out of all the students, she
picked on me the most. We all had computers and so most of the time we were
typing our assignments in class. She'd always stand over me the longest watching
me. I felt singled out a lot which made me feel uncomfortable, I was so glad when
the last week finally came. I wasn't even sure I'd get an A from her, but when I did
receive my final grade which ended up being an A, I was so shocked. She then
privately told me that out of all her students, I was the one that most pleased her
the most. Pleased her! I thought she hated me. I asked her what she meant. She
said, "I pushed you the hardest on purpose, because I knew you had great potential
to become something very special." I could hardly answer back. I thanked her and
told her I would never forget her. And I haven't. I did go on to become a word
processor for a bank which transitioned me into a network administrator. I am now a
web developer, designer, and business owner and a lot of the credit goes to her for
pushing me beyond my limits and never letting up. She saw something in me and
she believed in me. Even though word processing was the subject, she taught me
much more. That if I work hard, I can do most anything and I'd be successful at it.

By Teri Davis
Our journey began six years ago in VPK. Our daughter was not retaining academic
information. I questioned her progress then. And continued for the next three years.
We worked with her for 2 hours every day, including weekends and holidays. The
rest of our lives as a family were put on hold until we could figure out how to best
help our middle child. So my special thanks goes to Mrs. Susan Peters. Mrs. Peters
recognized a need in our child and put us at ease. In the past three years our lives
as a student and a family has changed immensely. We now have family vacations,
play sports, go to music lessons. The confidence and courage Mrs. Peters gave back
to my daughter is priceless. Two hundred and fifty words dont even begin to touch
on how grateful we are to Mrs. Peters and the DePaul School. Some people have
indicated that my daughter has a disability, but Mrs. Peters has demonstrated that
she has extraordinary ability that needed to be nurtured differently. Mrs. Peters
gave us back our family, and continues to give my daughter confidence. Mrs. Peters
is an extraordinary lady who uses her teaching ability to touch lives.

By Karen Sayre
Marita Eng made math fun! She went far and above the normal classroom
teaching. In addition to the standard math drills, we were asked to explain our
answers, to make sure we understood the 'why' of the problems. We participated in
math field days and formed a math club. We did math projects, where we applied
math to real world examples. I was amazed that I could create a self-learning
‘computer’ game out of matchbooks and game pieces, and that bubbles have
mathematical properties! Mrs. Eng created Sandalwood's first computer classes
and even took us to UNF each week so we could use their computers. Through Mrs.
Eng, we also expanded culturally and socially. We sampled dishes while celebrating
the Chinese New Year, participated in the city’s Sandcastle building contests, and
much more. Mrs. Eng became the head of Mathematics for Duval County, where she
was able to spread her very effective teaching methods way beyond the walls of
Sandalwood. The entire county benefitted from her mathematics programs. I saw
her many years later in a grocery store. I made sure I told her how she affected my
career path and how she influenced my life. I have recently had the privilege of
tutoring mathematics in an inner-city school, again extending the reach of this great
teacher. The extremely high percentage of her students that ended up in a math or
computer field, including myself, is a great testament of how this teacher went far
above and beyond 'normal' teaching. I am privileged to have been a student of
Marita Eng.