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You don't want to date yourself,
but you graduated a while ago... and those elementary school
teachers are further back than you dare to remember. But Mrs.
Thompson, Mr. Fitch, Principal Hallonquist are all still vivid
in your mind. The nicest thing you
can do for any educator is to say THANK YOU with a simple card
or e-mail. But how do you get in
touch?
Playing
Detective
- Start with your
school. If it's still around, it
probably has a website, so just put the name into
any search engine and see what you find.
It's possible that "old"
teacher was actually just into his or her 20s when
you were in the class and may still be teaching
there.
- If you don't see your teacher listed,
look for other teachers you
remember. Teachers often keep in
touch after moving to another school. If there's an
e-mail for a teacher who was a contemporary of
yours, try that route.
- Contact the school itself.
This is a great way to find people! There may well be an
alumni group associated with the school that knows where
teachers have gone and can put you in touch quickly.
- If the teacher had an unusual
name, try "googling" the name
itself, with "teacher" also part of the
search. (Don't bother with Mrs. Mary Smith. The
list of possible hits will be too discouraging!)
- Don't give up if the first thing you try
doesn't work! Be persistent. Your teacher
was.
When you find
them...
You've
found your teacher's contact information. Now
what?
- Write a letter, card or e-mail expressing your
gratitude. Don't be surprised (or hurt) if
the teacher doesn't remember you specifically. After all,
there were probably 25 studentsin the class, and it was one
class of several that year, and it's been a lot of years.
The thousands of students who
have benefitted from this teacher can't all stay in his or
her mind.
- If you are nearby, you might
arrange to get together. Better
yet, offer to repay some of the debt you owe your teacher by
offering to come talk to his or her classes some
time. Make a firm date, and keep
it.
What if
you find your teacher, but he or she is
deceased?
That's
not the end of the road! You can still express
your gratitude in ways that have tangible results for other
students.
- Make
a donation in your teacher's name to the
foundation at the school, or to some cause that was near to
the teacher's heart in the community.
- Donate funds for the purchase of library
books (on the teacher's subject, or
otherwise) to the school's
library. A plate will generally appear
inside the front of the book saying whose memory the book
was given in.
- Send
a letter to the school to be forwarded to the teacher's
family. You may discover your teacher was
tragically killed in a car accident or otherwise died young.
Your kind words, even years
after the passing of the teacher, can mean the world to his
or her family.
Even if
you never find your old teachers,
you can thank them by living up to
the standards they set andfulfilling the
dreams they helped you bring to life. Why not volunteer at the schools in your
area to help tutor students, give a
presentation to a business class, or mentor students at a
students-to-the-workplace day?
Creative expressions of gratitude
will reinforce your own memories of your school days and the
benefit they were to you. Take
time to say, "Thanks". Surely they taught you
that!
"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell
where his influence stops."
-- Henry B.
Adams |
