Teachers Make A Difference
Meet Phyllis Meier. She teaches at Kirtland Central High School in Shiprock, NM
Good teachers have good stories. Here's one from Phyllis.
Terry, a quiet Navajo student who was ESL an English Language learner, was in my keyboarding class and later in my computer applications class. He struggled in his language arts and math classes but he never gave up. I finally conviced him to join Business Professionals of America and he eventually became an officer in our club.
He chose the computer related contests to compete in until his senior year. His senior year he came up to me and said that he wanted to compete in extemporaneous speech. I asked him if he was sure and explained to him the rules. Much to my excitement he placed 1st at the regionals and state contest and went on to place 11th at nationals.
Our national convention that year was in Florida. We went to the Kennedy Space Center where I saw his eyes light up at being there and being in the heart of NASA. When asked about it, he told me it was his dream to be an astronaut. I told him if that was his dream he should go for it. He shared that his family said he was not smart enough. I disagreed with them. He had a lot of potential.
Unfortunately, after he graduated they discovered a heart murmur so he couldn't be an astronaut. I talked to him about being one of the scientists in the command center. Now Terry is presently getting his doctorate degree in aeronautical engineering.
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