A Tickled-Pink Teacher

I learned something this morning.  Today is World Teachers Day.  Hooray for all the dedicated, hard-working teachers out there. 

And, hooray for learning something every day, and putting it to use.  Once I learned that it was World Teachers Day, I put the lesson to use by spreading the word. 

I firmly believe that teachers do deserve to be called heroes.  Many have been heroes in my life at one time or another.  

I still maintain that the super hero of my life took me aside in a school hallway one day and talked to me like an adult, informing me that he thought I had the stuff to serve as the high school newspaper editor the next year.

My world changed forever that day. 

Not only did someone believe in me, that particular someone opened my door to a lifetime of doing something I loved----approaching a story that needed to be told, gathering the facts--all the facts---and spreading the word. 

In my personal view, nothing quite beats a good story.  

Along with each of these narrative gems  comes the responsibility to separating fact from fiction, adhering to accuracy and crafting the results in such a way that a whole bunch of other people will want to read it. 

My hero teacher taught me the basics of journalism---principles that will follow me all the days of my life.  He also encouraged me----not only on that day in the school hallway but also throughout much of my adult life. 

He did the same for many other aspiring journalists who,still, today point directly at him as their personal hero.  Thanks, Bob Hamilton.

Besides the foundation for my career in journalism, the late Bob Hamilton unwittingly taught me something else during that monumental meeting of teacher and student outside the journalism classroom at Sandpoint High.  

He recognized and enthusiastically acknowledged a budding passion swirling inside this insecure soul, eager to burst forth with any morsel of encouragement.

I never forgot that day and took every opportunity to emulate it at appropriate times in my own teaching career. 

Bob Hamilton's example of not only teaching a discipline but also seeing potential in young people made a huge difference in many lives during his years at Sandpoint High School.  Plus, his influence with those young people extended far beyond high school. 

SHS Cedar Post students setting off into the world of journalism or similar careers always knew that their successes would receive proud note in Mr. Hamilton's classroom as he used them as examples while mentoring yet another crop of young people, eager for finding their niche in life. 

I had many other teachers who could wear capes during my two careers as a teacher and a freelance writer.  

Some did not even have education degrees.  Instead, they were accomplished writers and editors within the trade who were happy to impart nuggets of wisdom they had learned through their own experiences.

Some were kind; some were not.  Still, I learned from each.  Probably the "meanest" of those, an editor called Dave, taught me the most, and I'm forever grateful.

Teachers follow countless styles when influencing and mentoring others.  The key for students is to take something from everyone and make it work for individual needs. 

I found through my teaching career, which was challenging, discouraging at times, rigorous, exhausting, fun, inspiring, scary, mundane, etc. that it would eventually reap the benefits called satisfaction, a sense of never-ending pride and lifelong friendship. 

Like Mr. Hamilton---my teaching and journalistic mentor---I've grabbed the baton and experienced countless "tickled-pink" moments, watching students take off into that big world and accomplish their dreams in big ways.

The past few weeks have been especially satisfying, and yesterday a truly ultimate reward in the circle of learning greeted me on the front page of the Spokesman-Review with a poignant, beautifully written feature about rural aging.  

Erica Curless was a Marianne Brown back in the 1990s, looking for her niche.  By that time, I was Mrs. Love who had watched Erica develop from infancy into a chatty teenager. 

Yes, I guess she was a LOT like Marianne Brown. 

In fifth-period honors English class during Erica's sophomore year, Mrs. Love had to tell her to be quiet-----frequently, along with her chatty friends. 

The next year, our Cedar Post staff needed a bookkeeper.  Erica was tabbed for the job. Shortly into her first few months on the job, for whatever reason, we needed a story written.

I asked Erica. She tore into it and when she submitted the piece, I used the figurative red pen frequently----Erica had a problem with usage of verb principle parts and a few spelling problems, but SHE COULD TELL A STORY masterfully as a teenager. 

The rest is history.  She ascended to co-editor of the Cedar Post the next year, bravely tackled hot-button issues with investigative reporting and continued to craft other stories which truly touched the heart. 

She also worked on the ground floor of feature in the Spokesman-Review called "Our Generation" focusing on student-related issues and special features. 

This crazy young lady whom I've loved since the day we first met (doesn't mean I haven't gotten pretty irritated with her at times) has the stuff it takes for brilliant story telling, including passion, uncanny intuition and supreme empathy for her story subjects. 

She's an artist with words. 

Erica went on from Sandpoint High School and graduated from the University of Montana School of Journalism. She also spent some time working in a special program in Washington, D.C. where participants were hand-picked from throughout the country. 

After graduating, she went to work with the Spokesman-Review.  

I was tickled pink.

My buttons really burst with pride yesterday morning, however, as I devoured every carefully chosen word and sentence of her lengthy front-page feature about an aging couple in rural Washington.  

Buttons were popping all over the Northwest and in Cyberland too, as journalists who have mentored or worked with Erica saw the same brilliance unfolding sentence by sentence as Erica told one of the most heart-tugging stories I have ever read.   

Her photographer Tyler Tjomsland contributed wonderful, poignant art to the piece. 

I tell this story today to illustrate a personal perspective about the long-lasting, maybe even eternal value of teaching.  One teacher influences another, and the string keeps on moving into the future.  

The ultimate end in all these phases, in most cases, is that society benefits. 

What a noble profession with such priceless rewards, as illustrated in Erica's story with the link below. 

Thanks again, Mr. Hamilton, and Erica, as I said to you yesterday, "Good Job!"

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/oct/03/rural-aging-an-accident-separates-a-couple-cheatin/