Since 2017, Charter School Capital has held an annual essay contest celebrating exceptional teachers. We call it the Dewey Awards, in celebration of Mr. Richard Dewey – a teacher who provided exceptional mentorship to our founder and CEO Stuart Ellis. Every year, we get a brilliant selection of stories written by students from charter schools all over the nation. This year’s winners are featured here. But each of these stories is worth sharing.
This week, we bring you a story written by Acacia Wilson about Mrs. Gatz of Freeman Elementary. in Woodland, California.
Honestly, I could write about several different teachers but of course, I’m not going to. The teacher I chose to write about is my old 6th-grade teacher Mrs. Gatz.
The year before 6th grade I was a very difficult child to deal with. I was very stubborn and very hard-headed. All of that ended once I was a part of Mrs. Gatz’s class.
Whenever I called myself catching an attitude or trying to be disrespectful to my teachers Mrs. Gatz would always stop me, she would sometimes even raise her voice at me. When I was younger, I hated her for it I thought she was just picking at me because she didn’t like me. After getting yelled at a couple of times and being talked to instead of talked at I realized she was just trying to help me.
After 6th grade whenever I would get in trouble or almost get in trouble, I would think about what my 6th-grade teacher would say. We did rotate classes but the only teacher that I think actually tried to help me or make sure I stayed on task was Mrs. Gatz.
When I became a 6th grader in Mrs. Gatz’s homeroom I was no longer a little kid I then became a young leader and a role model for the younger kids in the school So, for my entire 6th-grade year I don’t have 1 referral thanks to Mrs. Gatz. My senior year is the year that she will retire and I feel like I should pay her a visit to thank her for helping to mold me into the young woman that I am today. Anyone who has had her as a teacher is a very lucky person.
Mrs. Gatz is the teacher who made the biggest difference in my life.
Want to share?
