More Over Coffee: Engage Staff Share Favorite Teachers

UW Oshkosh’s Engage staff members answer the Over Coffee question:

Who is your favorite teacher of all time?

“Ms. Bina, my high school world literature teacher. She was sweet and kooky, and even made Siddhartha interesting.”
—Jamie Ceman

“I am really impressed with my daughter’s second-grade teacher who actually drove to each student’s house a week before school started to hand deliver a welcome letter. She included a photo of herself in second grade with an explanation of how she dreamed of being a teacher during her childhood and how much she looked forward to teaching us in the coming year. The entire year was filled with wonderful surprises, too. A truly passionate teacher!”
—Christine Gantner

“My favorite teacher was Ms. Barbara Boelter, one of my fifth-grade teachers. She was tough and had high expectations, but also had a great sense of humor. She was probably the first teacher who helped me see that I was far more capable than I ever thought I was and was a great supporter throughout middle school, high school, college and even up until today – and fifth grade was longer ago than either of us cares to admit…”
—Tim Holdsworth

“I have two: My mother and my father who, respectively, served as my sixth-grade language arts and reading and seventh- and eighth-grade civics and American history teachers. Not only did they provide their small-town public school students with an enriching, relevant education, but they also treated me — their son — no different than the rest of my classmates. I am grateful to both of them for wisdom, their fairness and their 35 years of service to a rural Wisconsin school district.”
—Alex Hummel

“I had Mrs. Klessig for fifth grade at Pigeon River Elementary School in Sheboygan. I remember her as a pretty tough and challenging teacher, but we did inspiring and creative projects. I still have my hand-sewn Marco Polo puppet saved in the attic from her social studies unit on explorers.”
—Natalie Johnson

“Ms. Steinhagen, my elementary school art teacher, is my favorite teacher. She had so much enthusiasm and showed how much she enjoyed making art. I remember there was a paper mache giraffe in her room that the fifth graders repainted with a different theme each year.”
—Donna Mleziva

“If I had to choose, my favorite teacher was Ms. Brenda Ness, a young history teacher at Waukesha North High School in the late 1980s. She was bright, energetic, and as the kids say today, totally crush-worthy.  When she was in high school, Ms. Ness had been a foreign exchange student to South Africa during what would have been some of the worst of times there. Talking to her about her experiences in Johannesburg set me off on a lifelong interest in the history, cultures and politics of Southern Africa. After I returned from graduate school at the University of Cape Town in 1995, I tracked Ms. Ness down and brought her a gift of a ballot from the country’s first democratic election.”
—Joshua Ranger

“I had many great teachers throughout my life, but one who really stands out is Mr. Jon Vollendorf, my high school literature teacher and JV basketball coach. He is a dedicated educator, leader and mentor to both students and athletes.”
—Allison Reineck

“My high school English teacher, Mr. Zindler, was among my favorites. I had Mr. Zindler for all four years of high school English and somewhere along the way he told me he thought I should pursue writing as a career. And well, here I am.”
—Amanda Wimmer

Tags: exchange student South Africa teacher