GODWINKS & UNFORGETTABLE TEACHERS
Dear Godwinkers....
This week I heard a US Senator say, “I cannot precisely tell you the names and order of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Presidents of the United States … but I CAN tell you in PERFECT ORDER, the names of my 3rd, 4th and 5th-grade teachers.”
I knew that Senator was right. Teachers create a lasting and indelible impact on every one of us.
They work for love, not money. They help us, as children, to identify and to fulfill our purpose in life. They prepare us for the future. They help foster the leaders of tomorrow.
Let’s take a moment… WHO was your MOST INFLUENTIAL TEACHER?
Most people have one. And often that teacher would have qualified as a Reader’s Digest story under the heading of, “My Most Unforgettable Character”.
My most influential and most unforgettable teacher was Mrs. Bernice Bennett; she taught English and was the Drama coach at Quincy High School.
It turned out, she was also my GODWINK LINK … that person whom God uses to deliver a Godwink to someone else.
She told me that her ailing husband, a college professor, wanted to write his memoirs… but he’d lost the use of his hands due to a debilitating illness. She hired me to come to her home after school to take dictation. I later realized that her primary motive was to give her husband encouragement while giving me a job that provided more access to her cheery and positive demeanor during our daily talks.
Mrs. Bennett demonstrated that she believed in me when I didn't believe in myself. She inspired me to follow my dreams.
I now know, that I most likely would not have been in the entertainment industry if it were not for her, my treasured teacher and life-long friend.
In those afterschool chats, Mrs. Bennett recognized that, despite my shyness, I had an innate passion to perform. She nurtured it.
When I said I can’t she said I could.
Only later on in life did I learn her secret. I thought it was JUST ME that she was lifting up. But, I was wrong. She was ELEVATING the SELF-ESTEEM of just about EVERY student she encountered.
In this unstable world, our children need wonderful teachers like Bernice Bennett. Kids need to carry the VALUES taught to them in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades, right into high school, and through the rest of their lives.
We need teachers to be our Godwink Links.
Louise
PS – I’d love to have you join our GODWINKERS Private Group if you’re not yet a member. We encourage each other… and pray for each other… 24/7. I hope you’ll take a look.
2 comments