Happy Teacher Appreciation Day!

There are only two things I have ever wanted to be:  a teacher and a mommy.

I have known I wanted to be a teacher since the 1st grade.  I am sure the fact that my parents were both teachers had a lot to do with it but even before I could understand that I loved to play school, loved being in school, and always loved my teachers.

I can pretty much name all of the teachers I have ever had:

Kindergarten:  Mrs. Kunishima and Mrs. Onishi
1st:  Mrs. Makekau
2nd:  Mrs. Realin
3rd:  Mrs. Ricker
4th: Mrs Tamura, Mr. Miyashiro and Mrs. Yasunaga (my favorite)
5th: Mrs. Kubota
6th: Mrs. Mansho (one of the best ever!)

I can name my teachers in Intermediate and Highschool too but that would take forever.  Nevertheless my favorites were:

Mr. Greenhill, Mr. Matsunaga, Uncle Ed, Kiki Fordham, Mr. Berg, Mrs. McKibbin, and Mrs. Andrasick.

In college:

Sue McFadden, Dr. Kathy Au, Dr. J, Dr. Zilliox, Donna Grace, Margi Maaka, Pat Lopes, Lani Carson, Judy Cramer.

I could tell you why each and everyone of these individuals impacted my life and exactly how.  I can still remember the whole language activities Mrs. Makekau did with us, I can tell you that Mrs. Mansho had the BEST relationships with all of her students.  I can tell you that Pat Lopes and Dr. Kathy Au are the reasons I taught at the community college for awhile.  I can tell you that Kiki Fordham's class made me consider being a dancer for a living, and that Mr. Matsunaga was the only math teacher that ever made me feel like I could actually do math.

Each of these individuals impacted my life with their gift of teaching and I am forever grateful for their inspiration and their modeling that helped shaped the kind of teacher that I am today.

They will never be fully appreciated for the jobs that they have done and continue to do but I am forever grateful for them.