In elementary school, my favorite teacher was Mrs. Coleman. She inspired me and all the kids loved her. She left teaching a few years after I left that school to become a prison guard so she could support her family. Teachers should be able to support their families by teaching just as well if not better than prison guards. Maybe if the great teachers were paid better, there would be less of a need for prison guards.

In eighth grade I was fortunate enough to get into a very good private school, and I stayed there through high school (until that point the longest I was in one school was two years, mostly I changed school every year). Most of the teachers I had are STILL teaching there (I'm in my 40s!)--they have the lowest turnover ever. Here's to Mr. Gould (history), Mr. Parry (physics), Miss Wallace (English), and Madame Clegg (French). The last two are not teaching there anymore, but they taught me alot. Oh, and even Mr. Willard, whom I really disliked at the time, deserves a toast because he had very high expectations and worked as hard as we did.