Who was your most influential teacher in school? What impact did they have on your life?

All throughout my school years, I had wonderful teachers at crucial times who were like beacons of light to me. But probably the most influential was my drama teacher from grades 10-12. Of all the impactful things she did as my teacher, one night’s rehearsal stands out. I remember having an after-hours rehearsal with her for an individual piece I was preparing for an exam, but I just could not connect emotionally and let go of my fear of failure. I couldn’t break free from being inhibited, and this kept me from fully becoming the character and living that piece in that moment. My teacher stopped me, and took me outside. It was around 10pm at night, and we went to the school’s empty parking lot. Standing there with her, she told me to scream at the top of my lungs. It was perfect – being nighttime, no one else was around, and I could just let go. So I shouted, screamed and perhaps she did, too. I can’t remember. But I do know that after that, I felt free. I was able to act freely and let go of the fear that I wouldn’t do well enough. Needless to say, I passed my exam when I finally performed my piece. Today, this teacher is actually a friend of mine, and we connect regularly. She wasn’t just a teacher. She helped me regain the confidence that years of bullying in primary school had knocked out of me, and I began to learn that I don’t need to fear failure.

My grade 12 life orientation teacher Mrs Barrett-Theron. I was enduring a lot of stress and trauma at this stage in my life, and was suffering from Anorexia Nervosa. Evidently, I looked really ill and practically on the verge of losing consciousness. This kind soul of a teacher pulled me aside after class one morning and asked if everything was okay. I tried to lie and say everything is alright, but the minute I opened my mouth to talk, tears were rushing down my face. She took me to her office (she was also the school guidance counsellor) and we spoke for an hour – needless to say it was the quickest hour of my life. I had never had the opportunity to open up to anyone about what I was facing. I went to her every week for the rest of the year, and she completely changed my life. I would not be the person I am today if it weren’t for her. She still messages me to this day (4 years later) to check in! The fact that a teacher was so willing to help, but didn’t *have* to was the greatest comfort in my school years. I don’t think teachers realise how much a tiny bit of an observation can change someone’s life.

Ms Harrison – my geography teacher. She was cool, funny and kind. But best of all, she always treated us with respect – even when we were being little sh*ts ???? She understood that we were kids, and always met us where we were at.

She was full of wisdom and tidbits about how to be a kinder human. I remember her once giving a passionate speech about how important it is to do things simply for the sake of making someone else’s life easier. Her example was pulling down the next roll of loo paper if you finished it. Since then, if I ever finish the loo roll in a public loo – I ALWAYS pull down the next roll & think about Ms Harrison: the kindest teacher I knew.

In matric, I missed out on being in the top set by a percentage and with that, I lost being in home room with my two best (and only) friends in Highschool. Their home room teacher allowed me to hang out with them every morning and at break times, even though I wasn’t in her class, and I’m just so grateful for that. Matric was a hard year with my parents separating and dealing with an eating disorder. I am so grateful for Mrs Rossouw who saw me and took me in, and gave me a soft place to land

I’m painfully quiet but my AP English teacher made sure everyone in the class contributed. We got into extremely fiery debates (did Daisy love Tom in Gatsby was a big one) and everyone was encouraged to weigh in.

Dr Leaver made me feel like my opinions were worth sharing which has changed the way I approach group situations <3

My history teacher, Mrs Collier. She had such a huge impact on every single student she taught. She knew what each person was capable and made sure we worked hard to achieve that. But most importantly, she taught us within context. Everything we learnt with her was focused around skills we could use, principles we could apply or what something meant in relation to other things. For that reason, I still remember everything she taught me. I truly understood what I learnt. Nothing was parrot learnt. I still have her voice in my head advising me on how to structure a paragraph when I write presentations. I hope she knows how amazing she is.

I had 2 teachers that changed my life for the better. They are a husband and wife duo – one was my high school maths teacher and the other was my Afrikaans teacher. My parents were going through a divorce, I was trying to conquer the transition of becoming a teenager and discovering who I was.
I very quickly found myself in the wrong group of friends and if it wasn’t for them, I probably would’ve ended up as a high school drop out. They loved me as if they were my second parents and I often found myself seeking guidance from them when home felt like a scary place to be.

Because of them, I’m a teacher today and hope that I can be that same escape/safe place for children who need it ????

My grade nine Geo & Tech teachers.
My grade nine started off so rocky with my dad being hospitalised and we were just not in a great space as a family and because of I felt to hide away from my classmates because I felt like everyone could see my struggles, and these two incredible women would often check in, allow me to stay in their classrooms during break and just encouraged me to get better

My grade one teacher, Mrs. Antrobus. I remember her classes from 1982 better than most from the remainder of my schooling!
She was magical, inspiring and brilliantly creative. She set the foundation for my education and love of the arts ❤️