[msterling]

"Doc" Harrison was the most influential teacher for me. In high school, I had four classes with him - 3 advanced math classes and one computer class. He had very high expectations and pushed me hard to learn and apply difficult concepts. Despite the hard work, class was also fun because he had such a great sense of humor. He has influenced my career decisions as well. The math, computer, and analytical skills I developed as his student eventually led to jobs as a computer programmer/analyst, 6th grade math/science teacher, and information analyst.

[vanilla_addict]

sweet Teacher Naeemah.. she was a relegion teacher in intermediate class.. whom was ever loving and caring.. when she wanted to comment on something she didnt like about one of the students. she would do it in a wounderful caring way with kind words comming from a loving mother/sister. bless her where ever she is..

[rui]

mr. L, he was the best math teacher ever. i would always get discouraged but he'd help me after school and always supported his students!

[erinayn]

Professor Cherry Gundry was the most influential teacher for me. She was my English professor and made the class an event. She was one of the most interesting people I've ever met. She'd had more experiences in her life than I could ever imagine such as being stabbed and hanging out with Magic Johnson in Mexico and didn't even know it until her daughter told her who he was when she returned. She taught well into her 70s just because she loved it and it showed. She taught more than English she taught you life and how to live and love it.

[mikissima]

Mrs Yang, my chinese teacher in 7th grade. She is a simple woman who is very dedicated to her profession. She doesn't wear any makeup and her clothes are plain but her method of teaching is great and she makes sure everyone understood what she taught, when it comes to the art of teaching i think she has it mastered. she sets a good example to her pupils and she has good virtues to teach everyday. she had such an effect on me and i'll never forget her, being very very superficial in 7th grade, unknowingly,she taught me there's more to life.

[Calisto2]

Mr. Milano, my highschool history teacher and my mock trial coach, has to be not only my favorite but also my most influential teacher. Not only did he inspire me to major in history in college, but he also made me realize that I wanted to go to law school. Now, more than 10 years later, I graduated magna cum laude from UCLA with a degree in history as well as pass the CA bar exam on my first try!

[hanee]

My most influential teacher was Ms. Dawson, senior year of high school AP Lit teacher. Not only did she demand excellence of her students, she taught me also to expect the best of myself and others, and not to settle for anything less.

[blew415]

Ms Levin- kindergarten! It may sound silly, but looking back she did so much for me. I have diabetes and Ms Levin when to our local hospital to take Diabetic classes and see what I could do, have, etc. She 'looked out' for me during all my years in elementary school. Even at my wedding- she made sure I did not eat cake!

[sochinky]

Ms. Counihan, my seventh and eighth grade math teacher. Although she was strict and feared by most, she was also highly respected and had a soft side. Ms. Counihan was more than just a math teacher. She taught us respect, ethics, and how not to give up.

Most of my past teachers were pretty amazing in one unique way or another. Whether it was their ability to inspire us to do better, or even the simple act of knowing everyone's names, those gestures shaped me and made some of those unbearable days a little less dark. Even if they didn't know it, I am grateful to them.

Kudos to Zac Posen and DHL for this great cause.

[burntoast5]

One of my most influential teachers was Mrs. Forst. She was my Creative Writing AP teacher senior year of high school and really pushed me to write and live outside my comfort zone. Thank you Mrs. Forst!

[restless57]

My all time favorite and influential teacher was Miss Virginia Edwards, my 3d grade teacher. She was a woman of extraordinary warmth, sensitivity and humor. She not only made me feel special, she made ALL her kids feel special! My mom worked at a local handbag factory (which might explain my love of handbags!) and purchased a lovely handbag to give to Miss Edwards for her birthday. Miss Edwards treated it as if she had won the lottery! She proudly used that handbag for the remainder of the year, always commenting on how lovely it was. I truly loved this woman and have never forgotten her. Sadly, she passed away when I was a teenager. By chance, I came across her funeral notice and attended her wake. I was not alone. Her students of years past were there in attendance! What a wonderful testimony of a special person. God Bless you Miss Edwards!

[lhsyu]

My awesome English Honors teacher in HS Ms. Sutton told us that good writing was just great BS. Ever since then, writing has been much less stressful for me...and I think I'm a more creative and innovative writer now because I've adopted that mentality. It makes writing much more approachable, a lot less daunting.

[MissDior698]

I myself being a teacher know how hard and also how rewarding being a teacher can be. To tell you the truth, no teacher sticks out in my mind or heart. Which is really sad. But now the school I work at I am touched everyday by the teachers i work with.

[frankswife]

The most influential teacher for me was my father. He taught various combinations of high school physics, chemistry, astronomy and math for nearly forty years. More than anything else I remember how committed he was to his students. He just delighted in the ones he thought were bright and was very serious about their entry and success at Ivy League schools. "They will have a hard enough time as the competition gets tough, at least they will have a good foundation..." he would say. But he also had tremedous compassion and encouragement for the students that struggled, especially in math. "Gotta know the basics..." (I hear his voice in my head every time someone gives me the wrong change.) He would take forever marking papers on weekends because he would comment on where a student had gone wrong during a problem or proof and he would work extra one or two nights a week so that any student could come for extra tutoring. He moved effortlessly from the slide rule through the calculator to the computer. "Computers are the future..." was another Daddy-ism heard on many occasions.

Best of all, while my brother and I were held to rigorous academic standards (at least it felt like it), I remember my dad taking time and interest in all other other things we did as kids. Of course he would help us with our homework. But I remember one beautiful spring weekend he spent hanging out with me in the backyard practicing cheerleading lifts! Ballet, guitar, cheerleading, school plays, sports meets, school paper.... He cared because we cared and he encouraged us to figure out who we were as people - above and beyond good students with a strong command of the basics. Thanks Daddy, I think we got a really good foundation.

[Roo]

I had a wonderful teacher in elementary school, named Miss Susan Magee. She was 25 years old and incredible. She had taught school in a juvenile facility before coming to my school so she had been around the block a few times in terms of kids. I will never forget the first time I ever saw her. She was a petite, fit and attractive brunette who drove a late 60's era yellow Camaro. To say she was "cool" to an 11 year old girl is an understatement. She wore the cutest clothes of the times and often wore Bare Traps sandals that showed her painted toenails. (Anyone who grew up in the 70's remembers those shoes!) Her appearance aside, the reason I loved her so much was that she really stressed how important it was for young girls to be independent and to control their own destinies. She talked to us about how she had her own apartment, and managed her own life. She would even on occasion tell us about a man she had dated, and to our horror (!!) told us she'd been engaged twice but had decided not to get married! (We couldn't believe it!) She also showed us slides of her trips to Europe and discussed European history and culture with us. Every Friday she brought in baked goods she'd made for us herself, and we got to listen to her various record albums. Her favorite was Earth, Wind and Fire and thus it became our favorite too. The other thing I remember about her was she wore antique jewelry that belonged to her great grandparents. One was a ring and the other was her grandfather's watch chain. Sometimes she wore it was a bracelet, other times as a necklace. I honestly believe my love of antique jewelry partially stems from seeing Miss Magee wear her stuff with such style. I also believe she owned a Hermes trim bag, I can remember it in my mind and it was brown. I can't be 100% certain it was Hermes, but thinking back it would not surprise me if it was.

When you were in Miss Magee's class, you were part of a special unspoken "club" in the school that kids in other classes did not belong to. Miss Magee protected us like a mother lion- if you were in her class, you were like her child, and we knew it and so did everyone else. I will never forget the impact she had on me as a pre-teen girl in terms of her integrity and style. She left he school a couple of years after I went into middle school and I never saw her again. I heard she got married but I have never been able to locate her. I wish I could, so that I could tell her how many times I've been faced with something and thought, "What would Miss Magee do?"

If anyone in Northern California knows this woman, please let me know. I have been looking for her for years. She would be in her late 50's right now.