Teachers have one of the most important jobs. They help guide children towards adulthood and teach them things about the world. But compared to other public service providers, they often go unnoticed. Teacher Appreciation Week, which runs from May 8 to May 12, shines a light on teachers and the impact they have on their students.
We asked teachers from winning schools of our Readers’ Choice Poll (July 2022 issue) to share what they love about teaching and their favorite stories of appreciation.
Christian Leitch
Art Teacher at Notre Dame Preparatory School
Leitch also won the Baltimore Style Readers’ Choice Award for Best Middle School Teacher in 2021.
What do you enjoy most about teaching?
There are so many things, but the first is getting to know my students and watching them in the process of creating art in class. [In my class, studio mode] is a really great time to kind of sit down as a class and collaborate with one another. And I bounce from table to table and sit down with them, and it’s really great to watch them create and work on ideas together that they’re super proud of. So, I would say the problem solving in the art room and the creative process is very personalized and very autobiographical.
How do you connect with your students on a personal level?
After studio mode comes process mode. I go from person to person, asking questions about their work. And since a lot of the work is autobiographical or very self-expressive, I get to hear a lot of their stories and a lot of who they are as individuals and we really do focus on that in our classroom. It’s very much about appreciating one another and each other’s stories and kind of growing in that whole sisterhood, because I get to teach them from sixth through eighth grade.
Are there any specific stories of students showing appreciation for your work that you could share?
Two or three years ago, we were going through COVID and had the girls in designated classrooms. I was with 13 girls multiple times a day. At the end of the year, I received a letter from one student who was actually moving out of state after COVID, thanking me in-depth for — these are her words — ‘being the light among the darkness’ or something like that. She was a bit of sunshine in the classroom as well. That’s something I will always cherish.
Sudip Saunders
Eurythmy Teacher at Waldorf School of Baltimore
Eurythmy is a movement art commonly practiced in Waldorf schools, combining active movement with the spoken word and music.
What do you enjoy most about teaching?
I enjoy growing with the different age groups, seeing them go from kindergarten all the way through eighth grade. Teaching them as they get older and change, mature and develop. I just feel very honored to be part of all these kids’ process of coming into their own individuality.
How do you connect with your students on a personal level?
Every morning, as soon as students start walking through the door, I say ‘good morning’ to them with a big smile. I make sure that they know that I’m really happy to see them, and that it’s [going to] be a great day. Before we enter and leave, I shake all the children’s hands — except for the kindergarteners; we meet in a circle. I try to share some things about my life during discussion time like stories from my childhood or adulthood. Students have a chance to share what’s going on with them as well, as it pertains to lessons.
Are there any specific stories of students showing appreciation for your work that you could share?
Last year, the fourth graders learned maypole dancing as part of the May Day and Cinco de Mayo celebration we teach. Afterwards, they all unexpectedly gave me cards with colorful drawings about May Day. One was this beautiful 3D illustration of women dancing around a maypole. I still have it up on my wall, along with other things students have made for me. Getting cards from all the fourth graders was huge.
Matt Baum
History Teacher at Gilman School
Many teachers at Gilman School are also sports coaches. Baum coaches Gilman’s junior varsity basketball team.
What do you enjoy most about teaching?
There’s a long, long list of things. Certainly the interaction with students. I think that was especially the appeal of being a high school teacher as opposed to a professor or something like that. But getting to know my students and being able to interact with them about history, but also about other things, and getting to know them. So that’s really at the top of the list. And I love the subject matter. The fact that I get to read good books and discuss them with my students is a real perk of the job.
How do you connect with your students on a personal level?
I got advice a while ago that you [as a teacher] should try to be in the classroom first and greet everyone by name, so I try to do that. We have a schedule at Gilman that really facilitates connection because we have 20 minutes between classes. It’s a great time to catch up with my students, sometimes about the material, often just about what they were up to over the weekend, whatever game was on last night or whatever music they like — just some of those conversations before and after class. I think they’re really important and a good way to get to know each other.
I try to go to as many school games and concerts as I can. Not because I feel like I have to, but because I want to see how they perform outside of the classroom.
Are there any specific stories of students showing appreciation for your work that you could share?
The ones that affected me the most are our alums. Sometimes I’ll run into students five, ten years after I’ve taught them. One of them [at a reunion last spring] said that he remembered feeling really welcomed in the class and really intellectually stimulated in the class. He was a freshman, so this was nine years after the class just hearing about how much he remembered and the feeling he had in class.
