My first and best teachers....my Mom and Dad

All I have ever wanted to do in my life is be a teacher.  Before I ever stepped foot into a classroom, I knew that I would grow up to be a teacher.  I played "School" in the family bathroom--the toilet was the teacher's desk; the toilet paper created handouts for my students; the empty area of the bathroom was where my students sat; each student had a name and assigned seating; the bathtub was the Principal's office--I would play in there for HOURS--or at least until my brother would almost break down the door to let me know that it was his turn to use the bathroom.

I don't think he played School in there, though.

From the beginning, my parents have been my best and favorite teachers.  I know I got my joy and love of learning from them and their example.

My parents were my Sunday School teachers, Children's Church teachers, as well as my teachers and encouragers at home.

My dad is the type of guy one might call a wallflower.  He tends towards shyness and standing on the sidelines.  He really has to work hard to put himself out there and be more involved in anything social.  But leaning more towards an introvert has never kept him from trying new things and being creative in any of his teaching positions.  (As someone who is honestly scared to speak in public, my dad has been an inspiration in that area, as well!)

I remember this one year during vacation Bible School when we were studying David and Goliath.  My dad who stands at 5'3" tall was pitted against another guy who is well over six feet tall.  It really was like watching a true-life David and Goliath!  They came in at the beginning of each night of VBS acting as if they were in a wrestling/boxing--jumping around; wearing boxing gloves, silky shorts, and robes; and yelling at each other the way we always hear wrestlers do on those wrestling shows.  It was hilarious!

There was my dad who was more an introvert than anyone else in my family putting himself out there creatively to teach a bunch of kids, including me, the story of David and Goliath.  Ever since, that has been one of my favorite Bible stories; I can't think of the David and Goliath story without thinking about that week at VBS with my dad!

My mom also has had a powerful influence on my education not only because she used to read to me and helped instill the love of reading in me, but also because she, too, was always very creative in her methodology of teaching my siblings and I new things.

My mom loves to sing, so we learned a lot of memory verses through songs.  To this day, I can quote (yes, I have to sing them) quite a few Bible verses because of my mom always singing to us.  (Her songs also helped me learn to spell!)  My favorites were the songs with motions!  To this day, I can't sing certain songs without doing the motions!  I don't have the kind of voice that will ever win any awards or even a voice that others willingly want to listen to, but that doesn't keep me from singing at the top of my lungs!  I love to sing and I always think of my wonderful mother who helped give me a love of singing.

One teachable moment I remember vividly from my parents happened when I was probably just a young tween--somewhere between 10 and 12.  Mom and Dad were teaching the youth at church.  They showed us a film about a young woman who was was the ugliest woman in her village.  No one wanted her.  Even her parents were ashamed of her.  One day, this beautiful man comes to the village and offers a very large price to the parents for the hand in marriage of this ugly young woman.  The parents and everyone else in the village laughed at and mocked the man, but he was insistent that she was the woman he wanted to marry.  So he marries her and they go away for some time.  When they return, he helps her out of the boat and she slowly turns around so her parents and the people in the village can see her (and the camera) and she's BEAUTIFUL.  She'd been beautiful all along; she just needed someone to love her to bring her beauty to the surface.

I have never forgotten that story or that lesson.  Even today, more than thirty years later, I think about that video and the lesson we learned as a result of it.  I wish I could find a copy of that video.  None of us can remember the title after all these years, but none of us have ever forgotten the story.

I am so very thankful that my very first Superhero teachers were my parents.  They instilled a love of learning in me as well as a love for all things Education.  I am the teacher I am today--and will continue to become--because of their awesome creative educational influence in my life.  Is it any wonder that my brother, my sister, and I are all three involved in education in some way?!

Thanks, Mom and Dad.  More than I can say, Thank You.