Two teachers stand out for me: Mrs. Sheets, my 3rd grade teacher, and Professor Anne Thompson, my thesis advisor in college.

In 3rd grade, I had just changed schools, was painfully shy, and horribly out of my element. Mrs. Sheets was strict, but set clear guidelines for us, and gave us the flexibility to organize our own time. I remember being excited by the fact that I was able to determine when I was going to work on my times tables, when I would do some creative writing, etc... and I distinctly remember the pride I felt when I finished everything early and had extra time to read. She also sang to us, making up songs to get her points across ("I hear talking and I'm quite surprised/we need quiet you must realize/we have lots of time for fun and play/don't go astray"). FIrm, warm, creative, and a tremendous sense of humor.

I met Anne at a very different time in my life. By my junior year I knew I wanted to write a thesis on Virginia Woolf, yet my particular approach was still very much up in the air. I had taken one class with Anne, a medievalist, on Chaucer, and loved it. Her style of teaching combined a respect for tradition (we all had to memorize the first 12 lines of the Canterbury Tales to pass the course) with a genuine love of the literature which was infectious, and she didn't shy away from the racier elements of some of the tales. When I asked her if she'd be willing to tackle Woolf with me, even though the literature was clearly not her specialty, she didn't hesitate. And throughout my senior year I was pushed, questioned and supported.

We all have had teachers that inspire us. Who has inspired you, and what lessons have you carried into your own work?

Ray Gietz was my favorite teacher. He was my high school music theory teacher and chorus director. Ray's room was where you wanted to be if you had any free time. As a student I was not aware that his joy in teaching, his love of music and his delight in us, his students, were what drew me into his classes and ultimately, music education. I only knew that there were a large number of us who spent every minute we could helping out in his classroom and enjoying the endless rehearsals and music theory exercises.

In retrospect, Mr. Gietz was a very demanding teacher. One look in your direction with his right eyebrow quirked upward put you back on track. Ray might ask us what we thought of the passage we had just performed, and then ask us to do it again and again, until it was done to his satisfaction. We didn't mind. The twinkle in his eye and his broad smile always encouraged us to put forward our best work.

I am now a high school choral director and one of my proudest moments was when I took my high school choir back to my old high school in N.Y. and invited Mr. Gietz (retired from teaching for 10 years at that time) to that performance. I loved introducing him to my students and will always remember his smile and twinkling eyes when he heard them sing.