From the outbox of Meyer’s inbox
Take a moment today and think about the great teachers you’ve had in your life. Yes, parents count but I’m talking about the classroom here. As you graduated, many moons ago, you probably had a chance to thank your favorite teach on the way out the door and on the way to your new life. But what about lately? What about those lessons you learn that you use every day? Ever thank a teacher for those? Turns out a lot of folks are using the power of the Internet to do just that. What teacher would you like to thank?
ON FACEBOOK, TELLING TEACHERS HOW MUCH THEY MEANT by Susan Feinstein writing for the New York Times
Darci Hemleb Thompson had been on the lookout for Alice D’Addario for many years. From her home in Hampton, Va., Ms. Thompson, 49, who is married and has a 12-year-old daughter, was determined to find Ms. D’Addario on the Internet. She tried every search engine and networking site she could find. About 18 months ago she hit the jackpot.
“Nice to see one of the greatest teachers of all time on Facebook!” Ms. Thompson wrote on Ms. D’Addario’s wall. “I love to go to your page just to see your smiling face. Even your eyes still smile. You are an amazing person!”
Ms. D’Addario was Ms. Thompson’s Advanced Placement history teacher at Walt Whitman High School in Huntington Station, on Long Island, in 1977.
“She had such a huge impact on my life as a young adult,” Ms. Thompson said, describing her tumultuous teenage years living with two alcoholic parents and experiencing early symptoms of multiple sclerosis.
“I was depressed and so sad and so isolated, and she reached out and saved me,” Ms. Thompson added. “Facebook gave me the chance to tell her, ‘You’re the one who pulled me through.’ ”
At a time when public school teachers are being blamed for everything from poor test scores to budget crises, Facebook is one place where they are receiving adulation, albeit delayed.
The site has drawn more attention as a platform for adolescent meanness and bullying, and as a vehicle for high school and college students to ruthlessly dissect their teachers. But people who are 20, 30 or 40 years beyond graduation are using Facebook to re-establish relationships with teachers and express gratitude and overdue respect.
Brad Scharff, 49, a finance manager at Time Inc. who knew Ms. D’Addario through her role as the junior class adviser, also reconnected with her online.
“It was like bringing back a lot of the more positive aspects of the high school years when I saw her on Facebook,” Mr. Scharff said.
Over the years, teacher tributes have come in broad formats, in movies like “To Sir, With Love” and “Stand and Deliver” and in television series like “Room 222.” Now, on Facebook, the praise is personalized, more widespread and more democratic.
On Facebook walls and dedicated tribute pages, the writings betray emotions that students dared not display in their youth. They include moving messages (“You inspired each of us to learn and go beyond what we thought we could achieve”), lighthearted claims on old debts (“You owe us a pool party — you promised us one if the Dow ever reached 3,000”) and recollections of specific events (“You got me out of detention one time”).
Check out the rest of this great story here.
