The kind of teacher she’ll always remember
U.S. Postal Service
Your daily Letter to the Columnist — Feb. 14, 2013
I grew up in Roanoke and every now and then my mother sends me news and tidbits from the area but this morning when she said Mrs. Chubb-Hale was on the front page I had to find the article. Although you spoke about history, civil rights (the journey thereof) and Roanoke’s past you could not have found a more phenomenal woman than Mrs. Chubb-Hale to interview.
I was fortunate enough to have had Mrs. Chubb-Hale as my 6th grade teacher at Wasena Elementary many years ago now and the lessons she taught stay with me today. When asked who my most influential teacher has been I never hesitate to say her name. She incorporated lessons about equality and respect in everything she did.
There are so many thoughts and memories going through my mind at the moment that it is hard for me to truly grasp what I want to convey. The crux of it all is that Mrs. Chubb-Hale changed my way of thinking about the world and definitely for the better.
By this point in time she has probably touched thousands of children’s lives (and adults) and all of them probably share the same opinion. If at all possible I would greatly appreciate it if you could pass this message to her.
Warmest thoughts,
Terry Jo (Hicks) Bennett
6th grade class of Wasena 1981
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C
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Response: Done!
February 14, 2013 - 1:30 PM
A good teacher is worth her/his weight in gold!
Educators who successfully blend life lessons with academics are the ones we most remember. Sadly, our focus in public education these days is minimum proficiency on a standardized test. We develop gimmicks to “grade” our schools. Yeatts said, “Education is not the filling of a bucket, it’s the lighting of a fire.” Kudos to Mrs. Chubb-Hale for lighting the fire in Ms. Bennett.
My wife is an ESL teacher at the elementary school level. She has hit that time in her career, since we’ve been in Roanoke, that her first students are now enrolled in college. It blows me away when she’ll get a blindsided hug from a seeming random student in just about anywhere we go. People that don’t believe teachers can have an impact on a young persons life must have really missed out on a great part of their younger years.
WOW. Teacher comments 4. Gun comments 118. Shows where the priority is, huh!