Health & Fitness
The Teachers Who Inspire
What teacher(s) inspired you? Use the comment box to share which teachers influenced your life.
By Jeremy J. Ly
Recently, I went to the corned beef cabbage dinner at St. Mary’s Church in Minooka. I cannot deny my Irish heritage some Guinness, Irish music and food.
Serving the corned beef was none other than Mr. Ric Offerman. His family is somewhat of a hometown staple in Minooka: Minooka Creamery, the orange water tower, and the Offermans. Still having two out of three around is not bad.
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Waiting to receive a helping of corned beef, Offerman asked, “Jeremy, I told you if I see you around, I’d quiz you. What is the capital of Tasmania?”
Taken back a little, I just laughed. But Offerman was serious.
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I just failed a pop quiz 15 years in the making.
Offerman was my eighth grade social studies teacher at Channahon Jr. High and his class made me fall in love with studying the Constitution and the legislative process. His class inspired me to get involved in politics and government, eventually becoming my minor in college.
Teachers influence and inspire.
My love of news writing developed in Julia Riedmaier’s journalism classes. Without her, I never would have majored in journalism and would not be writing today.
I developed public speaking talents with Heather Danek and Jen Gabel. Public speaking definitely came in handy when running for office.
Some teachers inspire in smaller, but important ways. I never knew why Shawn Capodice had a giant McDonald’s Diet Coke every morning in trigonometry class, until I landed my first teaching job. I needed my 6:00 a.m. Diet Coke too. With carbonated caffeine in hand, Capodice made learning fun – even though I do not often use the words “math” and “fun” in the same sentence.
Bernie Ruettiger taught me how to drive. He also blasted conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh in our car. He said, "Jeremy, you need to learn how to drive distracted."
More like aggravated driving. Listening taught me I did not like Limbaugh.
Donna Engel pushed me to understand biochemistry and chemistry. She also encouraged her students to give back to the community.
The aforementioned teachers are not a comprehensive list of who inspired me. But as Riedmaier’s classes taught me, brevity is key in news writing.
Teachers influence, inspire and of course teach.
Oh, by the way, the capital of Tasmania is Hobart.
What teacher(s) inspired you? Use the comment box below to share which teachers influenced your life.
@JeremyJLy
