Teachers

I've been thinking a lot about people in my life that have had the greatest influence on me , and it really made me think about the teachers I've had throughout my life. Not just the teachers that taught us in grade school, but my Sunday School and Primary teachers, the sisters who have taught me in Relief Society and by example on how they live their lives, my own children have taught me a great deal about life and myself as well. Teachers are an important part of our lives, they really do help us understand and learn the things we need to. If had to to choose 3 teachers that seemed to impact a lot of my thinking in my youth I would choose Mrs. Bryce my 6th grade teacher pictured below with my homeroom class, Ann Whipple, and Sue Neitfeld.

Mrs. Bryce expected a lot out of us, and loved reading good books. She read to us quite often in our classroom, I remember crying my eyes out at the end of Where the Red Fern Grows. You knew that she really cared about you, the kind of work you did and that she really loved teaching. I still remember almost all of the English rules she taught us in 6th grade as well. There was just something really unique about her and how she brought out the best in all of us.

My Beehive leader, who was also my 7th Grade Home Room teacher was Ann Whipple. She was a great teacher in the classroom at school, but even a better teacher in her home and with us in Young Women's. I loved the fact that we were always welcome in her home, she had some really amazing antiques, and was also an extraordinary cook. She decorated cakes and taught us how to do simple stars and lines, and as a class we created a "masterpiece" beehive cake for New Beginnings. She let us call her Auntie Ann if we weren't at church, or school and always wrote us the kindest notes complimenting or encouraging us in our endeavors. She was such a sweet lady and always stayed interested in our lives even when she was no longer our leader. She made my wedding cake, and that really meant a lot to me. I admired her thoughtfulness and her ablity to just know what needed to be done and doing it.

Sue Neitfeld was also a high school home economics teacher, and myYoung Women's leader. . She was made our leader as the ward boundaries were realigned and she had the task of getting 13 girls that had been in different wards to get along. She was amazing, she knew how to have fun, but she never let us forget that when it came to things of a spiritual nature, they should not be taken lightly. She taught very memorable lessons, and was always so prepared. She showed each one of us individually how much she cared and we did actually manage to get along, I think more because we wanted to please her than any other reason. She has always been a great example to me with how she lived her life and how she weathered the storms and the trials in her life.

I am so grateful that I have been surrounded by so many great and wonderful teachers my entire life, and I know that they have all influenced me and I am who I am, in part because of them.