The Teacher from the Past—A True Story 

By | |
Voiced by Amazon Polly

My business partner texted me one afternoon while he was doing some paperwork at our business, The Mayfield Academy of Self-Defense. Dan wrote, “A little old lady stopped in at the school and said she knew you.” I texted back asking if she had left her name. “Mrs. Gronick.”  “Mrs. Gronick, my High School teacher? She has to be like 90 years old!”  Sounds about right and as sharp as a tack, Dan texted back. She had also left an introductory card with her name and phone number on it. He took a pic of the card and sent it to me. Oh, my God! My senior year high school teacher who made a huge difference in my life! I hadn’t seen her since high school, decades ago, but I had written an article about her ten years previous.

Back in the Day

You see, back in the day, Mrs. Gronick had showed me that I mattered. I had just about given up on myself and my future until she sauntered in one day and introduced herself as our new teacher.  I’ll attach the earlier article that I wrote about Mrs. Gronick here:  

Who’s Your Hero? A Hero Might Have Touched You

The Next Day

I called Mrs. Gronick and we had a great conversation. She wasn’t 90 years old but 92! She sounded like she was 50. What an absolute pleasure it was to be able to tell her what she had done for me and share the article that I written about her. We made plans to have lunch or coffee soon and I can’t wait to be in her presence again. I mean, how could I not be? She really changed my life for the better!

Teachers

If you are a new teacher, please listen up—know that you can truly make a lasting and positive difference in your students’ lives.  If you are a seasoned teacher who perhaps might be losing your luster for teaching and are just showing up to get your retirement, know that you still can make a huge positive change in the lives of those students sitting in front of you every day, and that really matters. It matters more than being a CEO of a big company or an actor on the big screen. Teachers can be amazing change agents in their students’ lives that can produce amazing results in the community that you live in or the world we all live in.  Don’t sell yourself short. Quality teachers are the movers and shakers of the world—know it and feel your worth.

Steve Kovacs
Follow Steve
Latest posts by Steve Kovacs (see all)
Tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.
Steve Kovacs

About Steve Kovacs

Steve's the bestselling author of 'Protect Your Kids! The Simple Keys to Children's Safety and Survival'. He's written many articles on a wide variety of topics and has three published books. Steve's a three-time survivor of violence in his youth, a former police supervisor and a graduate of The Police Executive Leadership College (PELC) and was also an award winning part-time college Criminal Justice instructor. For several years, Steve did written and radio political and current event commentary and was the former host of the long running 'The Kovacs Perspective' Internet radio and TV talk show. Steve presently owns a small businesses in Ohio--The Mayfield Academy of Self-Defense.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Recent Articles Posted

    • How To Survive and Safely Enjoy Hiking in the Woods
      Every year people disappear in the woods without much of a trace. Most get lost or sustain an immobilizing injury. Many of these people are either not found in time to survive their injuries or in some cases, they’re simply never found, even after extensive searches.  Of course, in certain areas, ...
    • Winter in America—Thin Blue Line and Do Something
      Winter in America is sometimes unbearable but fortunately, most of us will hunker down in the warmth, comfort, and safety of our homes. But not everyone. Especially not the people experiencing the nightmares I’ll mention here. In the United States, about 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 13 boys ...
    • The Simple Best Thing You Can Do To Not Become A Victim
      The mother of a murdered girl said, “It’s easy for people to say she should have slept with pepper spray under her pillows or taken other security precautions, but people don’t do those things unless they’ve been victims.”    It's a fact that people don’t take regular security precautions unless they’re reminded ...
    • The Streets are filled with Vipers
      In Bob Dylan’s song, ‘Don’t Fall Apart on me Tonight’ he sings a line that explains a major reason why crime is rampant in the U.S. “The streets are filled with vipers who’ve lost all ray of hope.” Bingo! The genius got it right . . .  almost. He wrote that verse ...
    • Women Taking Charge: A Guide to Violent Attack Survival—Part 2—Weapons
      I just talked to a personal security expert who I respect more than just about any other expert including the loads of experts who have sprouted up on-line. I’ve known this expert for decades and he talks reality. He’s traveled the globe doing security and bodyguard work and has done ...
    • Bones Heal, Pain is Temporary and Chicks Dig Scars—Dealing with Fear
      Years after famous motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel retired he had a business disagreement with someone in Geauga County, Ohio. Geauga County is home to several small police departments and my friend worked for one of them. One afternoon he told me that he had to make an official phone call ...
    • Feet Don’t Fail Me Now and How Not To Get Shot
      Even though violent crime and specifically, shootings are on the rise the odds are good that you’ll never be shot at. But if you could learn simple methods to handle shootings, just in case, in about five minutes, wouldn’t you take the time? Continue reading for that five-minute training that ...
    • What’s In a Name? (5 to Survive) Your Survival, That’s What
      For years, I’ve written articles and done countless seminars on how not to become victims of crime. Throughout those years, I’ve also listened to many others talking on the same topic and one thing that always bothered me was the two words that they almost always said but hardly ever ...
    • Are You a Coward?
      A famous Danish theologian, philosopher, poet and religious author, Soren Kierkegaard once wrote, “Once you label me, you negate me.” Negate means to nullify or make ineffective. In his quote, he’s saying that once you or I are labeled as anything—stupid, brute, irresponsible, brave or a coward, that’s what people ...
    • It Doesn’t Matter a Bit
      I figured that it was going to take about two hours. So I settled into a cushy chair that was tucked away in the corner of the room at the dealership repair shop and whipped out my iPhone for some calm, mind-my-own business, surfin. The wall mounted television was broadcasting ...