An Unforgetable Educator

Mrs Otterson: An Unforgettable Educator I can still remember the first day I stepped foot into first grade. So much so, I remember it like it was yesterday. The sun was shining, the wind was slightly blowing and I had the biggest smile on my face. I was extremely excited, yet nervous, for my first day of school. Now thinking about it, there was no need to be nervous because my teacher gave each one of us a warm welcome, and as soon as I said goodbye to my mother, Mrs Otterson gave me the biggest hug and said, “Welcome to first grade!” Since that moment, I knew I was going to enjoy her class. There was something about her that made me feel comfortable; Maybe it was because she was like a mother. I liked Mrs Otterson’s class so much that when the day would come to an end, I would get sad because I didn’t want to leave. Mrs Otterson made reading and writing fun to learn. I remember whenever a student read a word correctly, she awarded us with gold stars and sometimes lollipops. One day I was challenged to read a sentence. Even though I can’t recall what the sentence was, I knew I couldn’t read it. I vividly remember crying that day because I didn’t know how to read the sentence I was given. As soon as Mrs Otterson saw tears streaming down my face she immediately came up to me and said, “Honey, it’s okay. Everyone makes mistakes.” She also promised me that by the end of the school year, I was going to be able to read that sentence and many more. Her words of encouragement always seemed to cheer me up. From that day forth, she worked with me individually and dedicated special time to help teach me how to read. However, Mrs Otterson did not only teach me how to read, she also taught me how to write. I really enjoyed learning how to write. Since I attended catholic school, I was taught how to write in print and script at an early age. I would always confuse the two, but my favorite teacher would never fail at correcting me in such a nice manner. She showed me that dotting my I’s and crossing my T’s was important. When Mrs Otterson said that writing and reading go hand and hand I wasn’t quite sure what she meant until I asked her if she could explain. She began going on to say that by reading, we become better writers. Now, I understand what she meant. When we read, we are exposed to different writing styles. We pick up on the use of proper grammar and we expand our vocabulary. After school one day, Mrs Otterson sneakily approached my mother while I was playing with my friends. When I went over to my mom, the conversation they were having ended. When I asked my mom what “Mrs O” had told her, she told me things that made me smile ear to ear. My mother told me Mrs Otterson was saying how I was her favorite student. She also said how interested and determined I was in learning in her class. Sad to say, I will never forget what happened the next day. After I gave my mom a kiss and headed off into class, I saw that Mrs Otterson didn’t seem like herself. She wasn’t peppy and she just didn’t seem happy. As I sat down, Mrs Otterson told the class that she had an announcement to make. At this point, I was thinking maybe we were going to be starting a fun new project but what I had thought was completely off track. She went on to say that she was retiring. When I heard this, I screamed, “Why?” Ignoring what I said she continued on with her class. At the end of the day, I approached her and asked why she was retiring, she told me it was for “personal reasons.” I didn’t know what that meant until about a month later.
It was a spring afternoon when I heard the news that my favorite teacher had passed away. The only emotion I felt at that very moment was sadness. I thought, no way, there was no way this could have happened, but it did. Mrs Otterson had died from lung cancer. Mrs Ottersons’ lessons are unforgettable. All her lessons from learning the alphabet to songs she taught us to remember certain things will always stay with me. Her lessons were the foundation of my learning experience and they are ones I will always remember. Every teacher I have had after was just never the same as Mrs Otterson.