How much impact can one teacher have? A lot. This week, Tuscaloosa, Alabama remembered Bessie Asbury, a woman who taught school for 46 years:
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20090324/NEWS/903239933/1007?Title=Long-time-teacher-inspired-many
Ms. Asbury taught at Holt High School. And though she has gone, her impact remains. This was a woman who helped African-American teachers during integration, for example. And one of her students was a troubled, young quarterback named Joe Namath. The talented athlete was struggling with his grades when Ms. Asbury began mentoring him. Thanks to her help, Namath's grades improved and he went on to to fame at the University of Alabama and the NFL. On Monday, Namath showed up for her funeral.
There are great teachers in every city. But in a mid-sized city, a teacher can have an even greater impact. Thousands of kids left Ms. Asbury's classroom and went on to make Tuscaloosa (and other places) a better community.
Henry Adams was referring to teachers like Bessie Asbury when he wrote that a teacher "affects eternity" because she never knows where her "influence stops."
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