Me? A Celebrity?

I know I have very little NO shot at ever becoming really famous, but sometimes I have felt like a celebrity. Someday, you may become famous for something or other and hopefully, it will be for something fantastic rather than awful (i.e. don’t do anything that you wouldn’t put on the front page of your local paper; don’t put less-than-flattering pictures of yourself on Facebook, etc.). When I lived and taught in a small town, I couldn’t go through the grocery store or to the nearby Wal-Mart without seeing students or parents of students. I was known by almost everybody in town! In some ways I felt like I was put on a pedestal and was available for viewing at all times. My daughter and I would go out to eat a burger, and kids and parents would come over and talk with me about some assignment or other goings-on at school. Sometimes I would go to the grocery store (just to get milk) and end up spending half an hour doing a parent-teacher conference wearing sweatpants and slippers in the cereal aisle! I went to the ball park most evenings to watch “my kids” play ball (my own daughter played, too). Hey that was the only entertainment I could afford back then! I learned a lot about my students, my community and myself. Later, as a librarian, every kid in the school knew who I was and I felt like a celebrity because the kids were always running up to me to give me a hug or a high-five or tell me about a book they were reading. It was so cool! It made me feel important and I think those parents and kids knew I really cared about them. I rarely go to Wal-Mart, even now, without seeing someone I know from one of the schools for which I worked.

This is just to say, that some people who were teachers did become famous for reasons other than being wonderful teachers. Here are a few:

Dan Blocker: taught high school English
 
Gene Simmons: taught 6th grade

Roberta Flack: taught English in Washington, D.C.

Mr. T and Sylvester Stallone: both taught physical education

Andy Griffith: taught high school English

Go ahead, hold your head up high, and know that you ARE a celebrity; even if it is only to those kids in your classroom!