Volunteered for National Rebuilding Day with Rebuilding Together Washington County. It was really a cool experience. About 150 people gathered and heard the mayor and the program director say some nice things about our community. Then we separated into our groups and collectively, we fixed up 16 homes in our county!

To support teachers, please consider a donation to the Beaverton Education Foundation’s “1 Campaign”. You don’t have to live in Beaverton to say “thanks”. 

In my continuing series on Teachers Who Inspire, here are three short testimonials from people around the country about teachers who inspired them.

Cathy from Beaverton, Oregon  writes

Mrs. Gregerman was the teacher who taught me that it is never too late to be passionate about learning. She came to teaching late in her life and set our freshman history class on fire with our first exposure to multiculturalism and passionate debate about the Vietnam War, Desegregation, Poverty, and Women’s Rights. I think of her often.

Wendi from Tigard, Oregon writes,

Nancy Palmer was the college professor who gave a voice to the young woman who couldn’t organize her thoughts about a work of literature to save her life. A brilliant mind trapped by disorganization she once told me. She did a little cleaning of those cobwebs and gave me a little book called “The Elements of Style” by Strunk and White (which I still have and use!) and I’ve never been at a loss for words or had a disorganized thought since. She was a saint – it was a long summer, but much appreciated!

Dave from Keller, Texas writes,

Mr. Wolfe was my geometry and computer programming teacher (BASIC, remember that?!) at Davenport Assumption HS. It wasn’t the type of class where could sit in the back row and doze off. He called on everyone and frequently had us work out problems on the chalk board in front of class. You were always on your toes because you never knew when it was your turn. If you answered or asked a particularly difficult question, he would shout out “two points!” which gave you extra credit. It became somewhat of a game to see who could accumulate the most extra credit points each quarter. Homework and tests were a breeze since I understood the subject matter when I left the classroom each day. I always thought I’d use the same techniques to encourage class participation if I ever became a teacher. It really worked for me!