Ridgefield seeks ‘legendary teacher’ stories

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Superintendent Nathan McCann and the Ridgefield School District Board of Directors have proclaimed Thu., Sept. 25, as Legendary Teacher Day to honor teachers who impact their students’ lives.

“Almost everyone remembers at least one K-12 teacher who made a dramatic difference on their life and their perspective in a positive way,” McCann said. “The goal of Legendary Teacher Day is to offer folks an opportunity to recognize teachers who influenced them in their lives by telling their stories.”

On Sept. 25, the Ridgefield School District invites community members, staff, teachers and students to share stories of their legendary teachers on a special Facebook post which will be made on the district’s Facebook wall at www.facebook.com/RidgefieldSchools. Community members who do not have Facebook accounts can email their stories to the Eric Jacobson, the district’s communication manager, at eric.jacobson@ridge.k12.wa.us, who will post them to the wall.

“We encourage everyone to share their story even if their Legendary Teacher doesn’t necessarily teach at Ridgefield,” said McCann. “Legendary Teacher Day is about great teachers and how they influence us wherever they teach.”



As a way to motivate the Ridgefield community to share their Legendary Teacher stories, McCann shared his own Legendary Teacher story.

He wrote, “My legendary teacher is Mr. Walter who taught 11th grade United States History when I attended Middlebury Union High School, part of the Addison Central Supervisory Union School District. Mr. Walter is why I became a teacher. He wasn’t a particularly large man in stature, however he possessed a presence that commanded the class’s attention. He wasn’t autocratic – each student got the sense each day that this was our class, not just his class.

“Mr. Walter served in the Vietnam War, and I believe his experience there shaped his commitment to making sure students understood the responsibilities living a democracy requires of its constituents. We regularly debated issues in class with Mr. Walter expecting his students to develop and present well-thought positions on the issues. It didn’t matter which side of the issue we came down on, it was how we put in an effort to understand the issue.

“He was the first social studies teacher I remember who would use stories in his lessons which made history come alive. His class nurtured my love for history, which resulted in my own journey to teaching history before becoming a superintendent.”