Have you thanked a teacher lately? With schools opening, this is a good time for us to reflect on those dedicated teachers we had; those who helped shape or even change our lives.

Consider Douglas A. Blackmon, the senior national correspondent for the Wall Street Journal. He described a teacher’s influence in his Pulitzer Prize winning book: Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II (Doubleday, 2008).

Blackmon entered an essay contest when he was a seventh grader in the public schools of Leland, Mississippi and chose as his topic a civil rights protest that happened a decade earlier. A group of African American farm workers went on strike and defended themselves against the Ku Klux Klan. His essay won second place, and he was invited to give a speech in an oratorical contest to a group of prominent townsmen.

As a twelve-year old white boy, he didn’t realize that, while the incident was ancient history to him, to his listeners it was explosive because they wished it to disappear from their memories. Unbeknown to him his English teacher, Frieda Inmon, had insisted he be permitted to speak in the contest. At the end of his talk, Ms. Inman had to rescue the youngster from an irate listener, who had been one of the violent supremacists. Blackmon didn’t win the contest, but he did go on to write, 30 years later, a history of the legacy of the Civil War that had previously been undocumented.

"I can tell you specifically when the turning point in my life came. I know." Floyd Patterson, former heavy weight boxing champion, told Peter Heller for his book, In This Corner. Patterson described his recollection of how a teacher, Vivian Coston, at Wiltwyck School for Boys changed his life. He was a troubled youngster heading for serious trouble. Coston encouraged him to pursue an activity in which he could succeed and to develop self-discipline. With her help he did both and gained confidence in his own abilities.

Did Coston have a clue that her actions on that day helped start Patterson on a path to self-assurance? Teachers rarely know how they affect kids. In contrast to those who deal with products, they can’t measure the effects of hundreds of interactions on their students, many of which at the time seem mundane or insignificant

We often think of systems, programs and other means to shape youth. These have contributed much to teaching and learning. But they also tend to diminish the essence of good teaching- human interactions- that can lead to: Shaping social awareness, developing a sense of being, personal ethics, and deep commitments. Attributes that are often overlooked and masked by test scores and grades.

Dik Browne, the creator of the popular comic strip, Hagar the Horrible, as a first grader had a short attention span, probably the precursor to what is now called ADD; attention deficit disorder. His teacher, Ms. Oats, recognized his problem and asked if he would decorate the blackboard at the rear of the room for Christmas: "I was in heaven. The area was about 5 by 20 feet and I filled every inch of it."

Unfortunately, that was the highlight of Browne’s schooling. A recipient of numerous awards for his drawings throughout his long career, Browne asks: "What did Ms. Oats know that no other teachers of mine knew? If the square peg doesn’t fit the round hole, perhaps the pegboard should have more room for odd shapes."

If you have a memory of a favorite teacher, follow this link to post your Thank You.