Tuesday, January 19, 2010

My Favorite Teacher

His name-- Frank Zgonc (Za-gonce).  I wish I had more facts about his life and the length of time he taught at my small town high school, but I don't.  What I do know, is that he knew how to relate to this particular middle schooler.  I could have used more teachers like him.

I heard that his love was music and his intent was to be a music teacher, but he ended up teaching math instead.  I can still remember the silly little dittys he'd sing during class, his Rambler and fishing stories and his word for math facts (fundie-mentals).  Even though he was a math teacher, he had us keep a notebook to write his word and definition of the day in.  I learned a lot from Mr. Zgonc.

I reached a time when I began to appreciate all those who had contributed to my life and helped form my young psyche.  I searched the web and found a contact for Mr. Zgonc's son, Larry, a music teacher at a Portland college.  His secretary replied to my email and told me that just a few months earlier Mr. Zgonc had passed away.  I was sad that I'd missed that opportunity to tell him how much he'd meant to me all those years ago.  I did the next best thing.  I sat down and wrote a note to his wife and made a mental note to myself not to wait to appreciate those around me.

3 comments:

smc said...

Teachers truly can have such a lasing impact on our lives; both good and bad. My parents were both teachers and I have to believe they left good impacts on their students lives. They certainly left a good impact on mine!

KandN said...

:>) What were your summers like?

smc said...

My dad had a second job with our local city park dept., but in August we always took a 2 week vacation and they were great fun!