I never thought I'd live to see the day that schoolteachers were regularly vilified. Pilloried for having pensions. Excoriated for having the hubris to negotiate the terms of their employment and have those terms codified in a legally binding contract. And mostly, demonized for failing to use their classrooms as tools to magically correct all the wrongs of society that the rest of society has decided it just can't be bothered with trying to fix. But then, I never thought I'd see the day when a group of Southern Christians gave a standing ovation to a serial adulterer who's being bankrolled by a gambling mogul.
I've been thinking about writing this diary for a long time. My desire it to present a place where members of this community can share with each other their memories of those teachers who made a particularly strong impression on them. Who inspired them, broadened their minds, lifted their self-expectations, ignited a passion for knowledge, or just somehow managed to entertain the heck out of them while still effectively teaching an otherwise boring subject.
What finally motivated me to get off my butt (or more accurately, to get on my butt) and write this diary? Believe it or not, it was the recent broadcast of the Academy Awards. Because I couldn't watch that show dedicated to the appreciation of the art of film, and not think of Mr. A.