In a quaint town of Wisconsin, you would find me and my most impactful educators inside of a small charter school. And before you begin googling “what is a charter school?” I might be able to help. My classes were entrepreneurial and inquiry-based, providing a unique way to guide students to find “passion” and use it in a project. In the three years I spent with them, their dependable advice and energetic personalities helped shape me into the person I am today. The two teachers that I chose, Mrs. Arnett, and Mrs. Wartzenluft, are the most impactful educators in my schooling career.

In my Genius Hour class with Mrs. Arnett,  I painted a mural that is still there after I left three years ago. (that’s crazy because it feels like yesterday). But while doing that project I did not just grab paint materials and slap it up there. I researched the effects of a decorated environment and how the colors in each room provide a different learning experience for each child. The mural was one of many that different students painted in the halls. And Arnett did not punish students for doing the same project a different student did. Instead, she let us expand on it and develop our interests, letting us provide a different angle to the project one had done before.

Teaching was not the only one of Arnett’s strengths, when my 4-year-old dog died tragically in 8th grade, the least I could say is that I was a mess. During the morning meeting we had every week, she brought me outside while everyone else continued and let me cry on her shoulder. It was above and beyond what any other teacher had done for me at that moment. “It’s okay” is all she had to say. I felt the weight lift off my shoulders. And even though I still felt sad for some time after it was a difference of light and day, I knew I could depend on her for anything.

When I’d walk down the fluorescent hall into the dimly lit classroom, no one would never hear a student call our literacy teacher Mrs. Wartzenluft. It is just weird to think about, the closeness of her first name gone, with a funky last one. The sound of her metal spoon hitting her plastic cup of kombucha while explaining the use of the similes and metaphors in a short story we were writing is forever engraved inside my head. Mrs. Wartzenluft– Beth rather, made it her mission during my tumultuous middle school career to form long-lasting connections that would help me with my future endeavors.

Beth’s dedication to the students she taught made it obvious that once we were in grades beyond, she would help academically or emotionally.  When I went into freshman year my class size had grown from 30 to 700. I didn’t expect the full shock of no longer seeing the friends I saw every day for 3 years straight. I remember the lesson Beth shared with me when I had gone to visit her that freshman year, “I know it hurts now, but you will make friends again. And until then, you will be okay.” Our small conversation still has a lasting impact on me today.

Both Beth and Arnett taught me in compassion and education alike, I am so grateful for the experience I had there and I know if I ever need help I can count on them. So with that said, thank you, both of you, for helping shape me into the woman I am today. My life would have not been the same without you.