Editor's note:
In honor of National Teachers Week in May,
Woman's Day magazine requested stories by readers
whose lives were changed by teachers. Here are two
that were submitted by Augsburg women:

One teacher who stands out was my high school philosophy/American government teacher. He was the first really avid reader I ever met who shared what he read with me (and other students). Sophie's Choice inspired a great class discussion. Besides teaching, he and his wife owned a bookshop in town, and they employed me there. I never made any money, because I had the option of taking my pay in books. Oh, the books I earned while there. I babysat his children. He coached me on our Hi-Q and Knowledge Bowl teams (third in State that year!). He was the one who encouraged me to go on to college, and I became the only one in my family to ever do so.

My first Christmas home from college, I was in a severe kitchen accident, and spent the next two months in the hospital, recovering from burns and undergoing surgeries. He was there, dressed in surgical cap and gown so as not to infect me. He brought me books and talked about what he was reading.

When I dropped out of college the following year, it was his disappointment in me that I most dreaded. My family, who could never understand why one would go to college to study English in the first place, never gave me any grief about dropping out. It was much wiser, in their eyes, to go out and get a job and make money. It was my teacher's voice, nagging in the back of my mind, that encouraged me to go back to school now. And when I return home, it is not my classmates I go visit, but him and his family. He is the one to whom I show off my children. And my current report cards.

Fran Baker, Weekend College student and McNair Scholar, majoring in English and history

I think many teachers can point to a parent who, in the dual role as "parent" and "classroom teacher," provided an early love of learning and teaching. I am no exception. My mom, E. Cecil Gregoire, was an English and physical education teacher for the Cannon Falls (Minn.) School District from 1967-86. As a farm wife and mother to 11 children, she used her love of learning, curiosity about the world, and teaching expertise to direct us through family outings, 4-H, athletics, K-12 school, college, and service to a larger community. I didnít realize until after she had died this last September the gifts she gave to her students and to her community during her tenure as a teacher.

At the wake and funeral, former students and community members warmly remembered Mrs. Gregoire as the white-haired basketball coach for the boys and girls team; the teacher of folkdancing, dodgeball and volleyball, as well as good sportsmanship, manners and cooperation; the caring adult who told young H.S. graduates that their next step was college; and the "vocal" taxpayer, small town school supporter, and self-designated adviser and watch-dog of the school board.

We had a garage sale this last Saturday to disburse her estate and to raise funds for the school playground in her memory. As I boxed up the Grolliers Encyclopedia and the Book of Knowledge for the next family of learners, I realized how vitally important teachers are to their family and to the larger community. Her legacy lives on in how that knowledge and those life lessons have transformed us, our families, and those with whom we live, work and play into the next generation of "teacher" and community leaders.

Jeanine Gregoire, Assistant Professor of Education