I live in British Columbia Canada, where right now our Provincial Government is involved in a battle with our K-12 teachers. In a nutshell, the teachers and province were attempting to negotiate a new collective agreement, when the government decided that the two sides were so far apart that they would impose a contract, thus denying the teachers the opportunity to negotiate. So the teachers decided to walk off the job which was followed by the government declaring the strike illegal. The teachers then decided that they would remain on strike, defying the court order to return to work. This was followed by the provincial goverment freezing the assets of the union, meaning that the teachers’ union can no longer pay their members strike pay.

In my opinion, this is a horrible way to treat our teachers. First off, they deserve the right to negotiate a contract, and failing the ability to negotiate a deal, they deserve the right to strike and withhold their services.

Our teachers play an important role in shaping the minds of our youth, by engaging, inspiring and challenging them. I have a long list of teachers who have impacted my life, but one really stands out.

I would not be where I am today if it were not for my grade nine math teacher Mr. Attiana. One day, a TRS-80 computer was placed in his classroom. He had never used a computer before, but promised us that by the end of the semester he would teach us all how to make computer programs. “How cool was that” I thought. Sure enough, by the end of the term, myself and a few other of my math classmates were cranking out simple programs.

In my grade 10 year, I once again had Mr. Attiana as a math teacher, and this year he was given an Apple II. He continued to teach us as much as he could, but probably realizing that we were learning at a faster pace than he could teach us, he began to keep his classroom open for a couple hours after school each day so we could have greater access to the school computer and learn at our own paces. He didn’t have to do this, but he did.

What Mr. Attiana did was he created an engaging environment where we could learn and discover a new passion. For me, the discovery of this passion has lead me for my entire career, and I will never forget his contribution to my happiness.

It always pisses me off to hear people make the comment that “those who can do, those who can’t teach”. People who choose to teach as a career do it because they love to teach. They inspire, engage and help us discover our passions.

It’s for this reason that they deserver our support and our gratitude.

Do you have a similar story about a teacher who has left an indelible mark on you? I’d love to hear it, so post your comment here.

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