As a side note, a few years after I retired from my 1C school I happened to run into an uncle of one of my former students at a store. While visiting with him for a few minutes he said that folks there still sometimes mention my name as I was there for 12 years. He asked me, "Do you know what they say the most about you?" I told him I didn't have a clue. He said, "It's how well you treated and taught their kids". I'll take that any day!
It wasn't about the award plaques that were still hanging on the wall in the band hall. In the long run, those no longer seem as important as I once thought they were while I was teaching there.
Eight days ago out of the blue I received a note on LinkedIn from a former student I taught there about 12 years ago. Here's an excerpt from his note he sent to me:
"I’ve always appreciated you for sticking me on saxophone. I don’t think I ever told you, but I started saxophone because my grandfather dreamt of playing when he was little but didn’t have the financial means to. Some of my fondest memories have been inside of a band hall and on the football field. I credit a lot of that to you!"
I'll also take that any day! Now that I'm retired, it means even more to me knowing that I truly made a difference.
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