My favorite teacher is Ms. Neese. She was my teacher for both first and third grade. Here’s a school photo during the third grade:
I don’t know why I wrote “me” above my own photo. It’s not like I would forget it was “me.”
Anyway, Ms. Neese was amazing. She had a huge ceramic jar shaped like a frog. And every Friday, the group of kids who listened and behaved best would get to line up in front of the frog, stick their hand inside (no looking!) and pull out one thing. It was usually a tasty piece of candy.
Ms. Neese taught me how to spell “Wednesday.” I don’t know why I always forgot the letter “n.” But she was super nice and patient about it. I think she thought it was really cute that I kept forgetting the “n.”
And Ms. Neese read us amazing stories each afternoon. I loved story time so much, that I wrote my own stories. I wrote one about a talking chocolate bar that started melting in the sun, but kept on talking. And then, one day, Ms. Neese told me that I should enter the story in a contest held by my school district.
You know what??? I won!
And Ms. Neese went with me and my mom to the awards ceremony. I remember when I went up on the stage to get my award, and came back to my seat, both Ms. Neese and my mom had tears in their eyes.
What an amazing teacher! I don’t know where Ms. Neese is these days, but I truly hope she knows that I remember her. I bet a lot of students remember her, because we all loved her.
She inspired me to become a writer! I think she also inspired me to wear a turtleneck-blazer combo to work.
Side note: I think it’s hilarious that everyone in the photo is dressed as if they’re in different climates…the little girl with the too-short sailor dress is definitely living in the peak of summer, whereas Ms. Neese looks like she’s dressed for fall in Boston, although this photo was taken in Southern California…
Another side note: apparently, I went to school with Peppermint Patty (from the cartoon Peanuts!). Look at the girl to my right…
It’s Peppermint Patty!
Anyway, thank you, Ms. Neese!!
Who is your favorite teacher, and why?
