The 10th graders I taught at La Quinta have recently graduated and many are probably moving on to 4-year universities. Some of my Pedro students will be seniors this upcoming fall.
Some of these kids did an admirable thing by taking their work seriously. And I made sure to validate them and give them from-the-gut feedback. But there's more to it than that. Kids don't forget those who had their best interests in mind.
I'm reminded of an old Twilight Zone episode in which an aging English teacher is on the verge of committing suicide because he feels his life has been meaningless. In a moment of despair, he reads an inscription on a monument in front of his school. It reads (to paraphrase) "don't consider yourself successful unless you've won at least one victory for mankind." Later on, he's in his classroom with a revolver in his hand and some of his former students, all of whom have died--fighting in World War II or what not--appear before him at their desks. One by one, each of them tells this teacher how much he meant to them. He's moved. And, subsequently, has a new outlook on life.
I think I'm like this English teacher. I have a deep need to be validated. I have to know that my life has made some type of difference.
