NATIONAL TEACHER DAY: RESIDENTS RECALL THE ROLES THEY PLAYED

Most of the advice and knowledge teachers convey when they aren't making assignments is lost in the hustle and bustle of the school day for their students.

But often those "golden apples" of knowledge are remembered years later, and students return to thank the teachers for touching their lives.

Today is National Teacher Day, a time set aside to celebrate the special work of educators. Several local educators and business people said the day gives them a chance to remember special teachers who have inspired and helped them.

"Periodically, we do have students who come back and tell one of our teachers they made a difference in their lives," said Gerald Richards, principal at Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School. "I think that's what makes it so meaningful for the teachers."

John Mehner, executive director of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, said he enjoyed several teachers as a student in Cape Girardeau schools. They had positive teaching styles and the ability to relate to students, and that helped students learn, he said.

One of those teachers was Richards, who Mehner said handled a sensitive situation well when he taught Mehner's eighth-grade math class.

"It involved a friend who was using drugs," Mehner said. Richards found some information where Mehner and another friend "had been writing notes back and forth, trying to figure out what to do about it, and he just handled it very well."

Dr. Tom Harte, chairman of the speech communication and theater department at Southeast Missouri State University, said two of his most memorable educators were also his debate coaches at Southeast.

Retired professor Fred Goodwin and Joe Low, who still teaches at Southeast, were excellent instructors, Harte said, because they were knowledgeable about their subject and they communicated well with students.

"I think I really appreciated them because they were very interested in helping students learn," said Harte. "There's an old phrase used in our discipline talking about the good man speaking well. When I hear it I always think about the good man teaching well."

Ward 1 City Councilman J.J. Williamson was a product of the Sikeston school system both before and after desegregation. He said he greatly admired teachers from those years, particularly Donald Fulton and Milton Ford, who worked in both eras, because they taught him to achieve.

He also appreciates Dr. Edward Spicer, Dr. Peter Bergerson, and Dr. Sheila Caskey for their guidance during his college years at Southeast.

"Fulton and Ford "were people who were role models," said Williamson. "I felt that they were very encouraging, especially to young blacks, to try and be achievers academically. On a college level, I felt those guys were very professional and had achieved ranks that I would aspire to achieve myself. I appreciate Sheila Caskey especially because she was very inspirational in me going back to graduate school."

Richard said teachers usually don't realize they are touching someone's life during the course of a day. Teachers get very involved in their work, he said, and often it is the little things they forget that help students make important decisions later in life.

"We usually don't get that praise or recognition when it's occurring," said Richards. "But whenever teachers receive those messages from students, telling how they inspired them in life, those are the things they tuck away. That means a lot to teachers."