In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day’s work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years. ~Jacques Barzun
It was my first day of third grade and I remember it as vividly as if it happened yesterday. It was also my first day at a new school in a new town in a new state. I was scared shitless to say the least.
As the students lined up to go into the classroom, a young man with a pleasant smile came forward and announced ” I am your new third grade teacher. My name is Mr. Tveit.”
Of course we all got a good laugh out of that name. Mr Tweety Bird was the predominate joke that rippled through the line that wonderful Fall day. However, there was something different about this teacher. A freshness and hopefulness that reverberated through the chatter and giggles that only 8 & 9 year olds can muster.
I had officially met the best teach I would ever know. We were his first too. This was the first class he ever taught. It would be easy to dimiss him for that. Anyone starting a new career in any field is excited and puts their best foot forward, for a while. But not Mr. Tveit. He loved his job and it showed. It was 1983 and it was a time of change.
I moved away from that town when I was 15 years old but I never forgot Mr. Tveit. I didn’t stay in touch with him, but wondered often how he was doing, if his current students loved and appreciated him as much as I did.
On my graduation day from High School I recieved this: (apologies- this didn’t scan well)
Letter from Mr. Tveit
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Thank you Mr. Tveit for being that positive influence in my life. I may not have realized it at the time, but 20 years later- I GET IT. I really, truly do. Without you, I may not have known passion and amibition. I may not have known that, at the pinnacle of my learning years, life is wonderous and full of ponential. You, Mr. Tveit, taught me that life is MY oyster and the pearl is ME. Thank you!
