A Tribute to Teachers, Part 2
by LDS Living Readers

When we asked you to tell us about your favorite teachers, LDS Living received so many stories we didn't know what to do with them all. They wouldn't all fit in the September/October issue, so we decided to continue the magazine's tribute to teachers with this supplement of inspiring stories.

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No Stupid Questions
Mrs. Winters and Mrs. Grogan, my third and fifth grade teachers, could only be described as the perfect teachers for their students. Both were known for their kindness and love for the students they guided.

One of my favorite memories was hearing them say, “There are no stupid questions. A question is only stupid if you already know the answer.”

When stumped on a problem in any subject, we were encouraged to raise our hands and ask. Once we did, we were taken on a journey of logic and thought. Step by step these great women would begin to ask questions, all leading to the answer we sought. Once we made the final leap and answered our own question, they would reply, “My goodness. You knew the answer all along! Why did you take up our time to ask such a silly question?”

Every student would beam with joy when they pointed out just how smart we were. These two women taught us to think, to ask, and to feel pride in learning.

Years and hundreds of students later, while visiting my old home town, I saw Mrs. Winters in a store. She had retired years before. I was in college and about to be married. As I walked past her, she spoke, called me by name, and asked how I was doing. We spoke briefly and I thanked her for her guidance. She just smiled and told me she loved me, as she did all of her students.

My grandchildren now range from high school to preschool. Every year I hope to hear them tell about their own Mrs. Winters or Mrs. Grogan. And each year they share their excitement as they look forward to a new school year. From the stories they tell, there are still a few of those great teachers out there, guiding, teaching, and reassuring the boys and girls in their classes that they already knew the answer to the question.

David
Utah

Teaching with the Spirit
When I was about thirteen years old I had a wonderful Sunday School teacher named Laura Evans. What really impressed me was how knowledgeable she was on our lesson material and how she taught with the Spirit so strongly that it really made the lessons come alive. She had tape recordings, pictures, and her testimony that made the lesson so great.

She really strengthened my testimony and helped me learn more about what we were studying. She was an excellent teacher. I loved her dearly and I learned to love the gospel more because of her.

Faye Moore

Trustful Teacher
I live in the Dominican Republic but am originally from Honduras. I joined the Church when I was seventeen years old, so I enjoyed just one teacher in Young Womens.

One special Sunday she taught us about being “trustful people.” She explained to us many ways we could be like that, and compared us to a watch. She pointed out that if the battery of the watch started to fail we wouldn’t feel secure with the time and we would just replace the battery. Then we will feel sure again that the time that showed is right. The comments really changed my life and I decide to be a trustful person. I decided that every single word that came out of my mouth I would have to do it, and since that time I am always on time and it doesn´t matter if others are not. That special lesson has blessed in my life. She is no longer with the Young Women but she is a good example of what we should be.

Michelle Cerrato
Dominican Republic

Footsteps to Follow
I was not a student when I met Sister Kathy Pini two years ago when my family and I moved into the Clifton, Arizona ward. Rather, I was a thirty-year-old mother of two lively little boys. Kathy had been an elementary school teacher and girls’ volleyball coach for years. She became my source of advice on how to handle many of life’s challenges such as the task of juggling my three church callings, financial difficulties, marriage, and my two children. I cannot say enough kind words to describe Sister Pini. She was the most active sixty-year-old woman I knew. She maintained a beautiful garden, worked over forty hours a week, spent time with her loving husband, seven children, and many grandchildren. She served valiantly and diligently as the Primary President.

On July 23, 2007 Kathy and Brother Pini were traveling to Utah to see their kids when a drunk driver on furlough from prison hit the Pinis head on and killed Kathy instantly. Her husband, Ray, suffered devastating injuries. He has partially recovered and has returned to live in the home they once shared. Because of Kathy I decided after over ten years of procrastination to finish college. I never knew what I wanted to do with my life. Kathy’s last gift to me was touching my heart with the inspiration to follow in her footsteps and become a teacher. I will graduate from the University of Phoenix in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in early education. I cannot replace Kathy, nor would I want to. But her footsteps are honorable ones to follow, since she followed in Christ’s. I will miss my dear friend until we meet again and when we do we can laugh and share classroom stories.

April Dickerson
Morenci, Arizona

Constructive Criticism
I grew up in the 50s and had many good teachers, but two of them suit this subject. They each used totally opposing methods. During the sixth grade, I got carried away with social matters and neglected my assignments. My teacher, a quiet gentleman, showed his disapproval only with a raised eyebrow. My conscience told me I was wrong, but still I played. I remember wishing that he would say something, but he didn’t: he just watched with his raised eyebrow. I went on blissfully thinking that I was safe. At the end of the year, he handed me a silent, resounding F. It was painful to a child who, underneath it all, did love learning and good grades. I knew that I deserved it, so I took the silent F, and, head bowed, determined that it would never happened again.

I stayed under the radar till high school; but like most students, I had a secret longing to be popular, and the fact that I was on the fringes of high-society kept me awake at night, and affected my grades. When I walked into the first day of English I, my attitude was to do as little as possible to get a decent grade, and spend the rest of my time checking myself in the mirror.

The teacher was an ex-army sergeant. What he had applied in the military, he apparently thought was applicable to high school students. I liked him right away, and I appreciated his teaching methods; but I continued to skate through my assignments. One day, after class, he took me aside and said, “Moeena, if you would make the effort, you could move up to English II.”

I could? Really? My opinion of myself changed instantly. From that day forward, I saw myself as a bonafied academic. This teacher’s comments had been a direct referral to my poor behavior, and they had stung; but he had added to his criticism the idea that I could excel, if I tried. When I left his classroom that day, I actually felt joy, and the hope for a better me.

Moeena Remior Eckman
St. Anthony, Idaho

The Extra Mile
Nearly forty-four years ago I was a new convert to the Church at the age of fifteen. I doubled the size of our Mia Maid class with my presence and in such a small group setting, had the opportunity to become very close with our teacher. Within a few months, I became a Laurel, and it is my Laurel advisor I wish to honor.

Geniel Young Cochran was a busy mother with several small children, but she made time to spend every Tuesday evening at MIA with the Bishop’s daughter and me. I had so much to learn, and these two lifelong members, one a teacher, one a peer, taught me everything I needed to know about living the gospel of Jesus Christ.

She taught me how to pray and patiently wait for a true answer, how to study the scriptures, and even how to conduct a family home evening. While a Laurel, I learned to accept a call to serve in the church, and how to function as the chorister in the Junior Sunday School. I learned about faith, repentance, and listening to the Spirit speak softly. I became truly grounded in the gospel of Jesus Christ in the short two years we were together.

Sister Cochran taught me the importance of a healthy body, and took me to the doctor when I was sick and my mother could not drive. She gave me all the extra time and patience a new convert needed to succeed.

Recently we reconvened our Laurel class at Sister Cochran’s home in Bountiful, Utah. We reminisced for hours, laughed together, cried together, and shared our deepest secrets and concerns. It truly was a magical day, with three very mature ladies acting like a Laurel class once more. It was as though the intervening decades had never taken place. Once more, we were two of her students, her girls, learning at the feet of a master teacher and example of the gospel.

Our memories at one point took us back to an experience when I was taking my oldest child to begin her studies at BYU. By chance, Sister Cochran called me just prior to the trip, and upon learning I would be driving back to Michigan from Utah alone, insisted on dropping everything in her busy life, including her full-time hospital job, and driving with me so I would have a safe return home.

Most teachers in the Church are called and serve well until released. But I have never ceased to be Sister Cochran’s Laurel, though I turn fifty-nine this year. No other teacher in the Church, in school, or in my college experience has stayed with me so faithfully and taught me so much. She continues to serve with a tenderness that has taught me to love the youth I have been called to teach as well.

Although bent over with age, she loves me, she calls me, she reminds me of what is right and good about this world, and I want to be just like her.

Laurie M. Johnson

Inspired
I was a new member in the Church and still in Rosario, La Union, Philippines ward. I really loved attending my Young Women class because my teacher inspired me so much. Marlene Higoy was our teacher and our Young Women president. Every time she delivered her lesson my eyes and ears really focused on her; she was really a great teacher and she is really a great example to me. She helped me to accomplish my personal progress and gave me very hard tasks to accomplish it like memorizing Book of Mormon verses, the Thirteenth Article of Faith, and working with the missionaries. I was very inspired to do it. Every Sunday I was excited to go to church for the new lesson and taking down notes.

I became a Young Women president and I’m so thankful to her for showing me a good example and helping me to become a part of the Young Women organization, and inspiring me to go on mission.

Emelyn Quinit
Batangas City, Philippines

Encouragement, Faith, and Influence
Although I had many great teachers in my life, one literally changed my life. His name was Rob Flygare and he was my sophomore seminary teacher. At the time, I had just moved to Utah from Ohio to live with my aunt, uncle, and cousin my same age. The schools and environment in Dayton, Ohio were not good at the time, so I had decided to move in with my relatives. It was tough being at a new school and away from my family, especially my mom. My relatives were nice, but their family life was different than mine, so I was lonely and sad a lot. My family was semi-active in the church and my cousin’s family was even less active. But Brother Flygare chose me as the class vice-president at the beginning of the year, so I got to know him and the other class members as well. During basketball season, my friends, cousin and I became statisticians for the team and Brother Flygare was the assistant sophomore coach. He would drive us to the games and we would all go out to eat with him before the game. It was fun to get to know him in a casual atmosphere as a person and coach as well.

During my junior and senior years, Brother Flygare was not my seminary teacher, but I still saw him a lot. He really helped my self esteem, courage, and spirituality. He even encouraged me to apply to BYU even though no one in my family had ever gone there. After I was accepted, he encouraged me to pray about where I should go and helped me make my decision to attend the Y. That decision brought me into full activity in the Church, temple marriage, and more joy and blessings than I could ever have imagined. We have kept in touch here and there over the years. I would definitely be a different person with less joy in my life if not for his influence.

Lisa Price

Double Duty
When I was a teenager living in Texas, I had a fantastic Sunday school teacher named Lucille Guess. She was always smiling and bubbly and had a great sense of humor. She loved teaching us, and that made being in her class special. We learned many doctrinal teachings with ease because of how she taught.

She also happened to be my creative writing teacher when I was a junior. I felt we had a special bond because we knew each other as more than teacher-student. She was a fellow Latter-day Saint in a world of non-members. More than once I would stay after class for a minute to get help on class assignments or church assignments. I often called her “Sister Guess” in school then would go to Church on Sunday and call her “Mrs. Guess.” It was great!

When one of my callings was as a counselor in Young Women’s a few years ago, I often recalled how Sister Guess treated us. I tried to pass this on to the girls I taught. I tried to be a teacher, an example of gospel standards, and a friend, just as she had been to me.

A little over a year ago I wanted to write a letter to her and let her know how my life was going. I sent her pictures of my kids and told her what an inspiration she had been to me. About a month and a half went by and I spoke to a friend still living in Texas. She told me Sister Guess had passed away around the same time as I sent the letter. I don’t know if she got it; I realized I should have sent it years ago. I just hope she knows now, looking down, that she made a difference in the life of at least one silly teenage girl.

Signe Comfort

One Special Teacher
I had an amazing seminary teacher that truly touched my life. I was struggling with the many trials that bombard you in high school. I was trying so hard to stand tall even though, so many times, I had to stand alone. Sister Jan Domenico was called to be our seminary teacher my junior year of high school. She brought excitement to the scriptures. She made it cool to stand up for our beliefs. She did so many things and went the extra mile every morning. She changed my life and she helped me to develop a testimony. She made me realize how special I was to my Heavenly Father. I wrote a poem for her a few years after I graduated high school. I was preparing myself to enter the temple to be married.

“One Special Teacher”

When I reflect back over all my years,
When I think of my memories—both the smiles and tears,
I can’t help but think of those who have touched my life,
Those special people who gave comfort through my strife.
I think of a loving family, who showed me the way,
And friends so dear that helped me through those days.
But among all those people—there is one alone that stands out,
Her diligence and patience, I could not have done without.
She taught me sacred knowledge and truths divine.
She taught precept upon precept, line upon line.
She put forth so much effort and shared her testimony with us,
Day in and day out—even when we would fuss.
Everyday bright and early with scriptures in hand,
She would teach us of prophets in far distant lands.
She would share with us stories made for our day,
She even made costumes and had us role play.
She taught me so many things—patience, meekness, humility, and love.
For her presence in my life, I thank God above.
Because not only a Seminary teacher was she,
But a mentor, a friend, and example of how we should be.
It is this one special teacher that came my way
That I remember each time I read my scriptures and pray.
She gave of herself so freely, and touched my very soul
It was her guidance and love that help me set out for my goal.
And now as I prepare to enter God’s holy temple
I wish to thank her for making difficult things simple.
It was the Savior that asked us to teach one another,
To reach out and love every man as our brother.
This special teacher has done all this and more,
She taught and urged us to open the door.
Through her teachings, He came more fully into my life,
And I learned to turn to Him in my times of strife.

Teacher, through your spirit and guidance, you have helped me to grow.
I’m forever in debt—you mean more to me than you’ll ever know.

Dedicated to my seminary teacher of two years, Sister Domenico.

Heather Nielson

LDS Living, September/October 2008

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