Who had the biggest impact on you?

Obvious answers would include parents, friends, siblings and other relatives. You might throw in your religious leader or a celebrity. Perhaps a neighbor.

But don't forget your teachers.

From the time you enter kindergarten until the time you step off the platform with your high school degree, they will mold you and enrich your life like few others. They will teach you how to spell, write, add, subtract, inform you about the world around you past and present and help you learn to solve problems. They will be the ones you rely on to give you the materials you need in life to accomplish your goals and achieve your dreams. They will challenge the way you think, the way you write and the way you relate to others.

And that's not even counting the professors you'll have in college should you choose to go that route.

I consider myself lucky when I look back at all the wonderful teachers I had. I can still name most of them, especially the teachers I had at Madison Elementary School - Mrs. Neff, Mrs. Barfell, Mrs. Eherenman, Mrs. R. Martin, Mr. Dougan, Mrs. Cook and Mr. Sims were all my homeroom teachers. They, like any good set of elementary teachers, built a strong foundation in me to keep going, to know what I wanted in life and keep striving for success even when the times were tough.

And teachers were just beginning to have an impact on me.

In high school, they really began to challenge me, shape me and make me think. I couldn't slack off, they wouldn't let me. Whether it was Mrs. Foster pushing me to be as creative as I could or Mr. Rhodes instructing me on the finer points of algebra, they cared enough so that I would care enough to want to succeed.

And then there was my Spanish teacher for two years, Shirlee Clevenger. She was tough. She demanded a lot. But she was and still is one of the more compassionate people I ever had the privilege of knowing and opportunity to be taught by. Her expectations were high, forcing me to raise my own. And when I did something wrong - say, falling asleep in her class - she made sure I didn't make the same mistake twice.

So when I found out she was named the Warsaw Community Schools Teacher of the Year for 2002-03, I had to wholeheartedly agree. She is more than deserving of the award and gets my total support.

Jeanne McCormack - a stellar teacher and past teacher of the year herself - nominated Clevenger for the same reasons I have and always will have absolute respect for her. Clevenger is an angel, a teacher and a friend and mentor to all. She won't judge you. She may disagree with you, but she will respect you and insists you respect yourself.

She - and the many teachers before her that I had who have earned my respect - is why to this day I can't call any of my former teachers by their first names. It always will be Mrs. Clevenger, Mrs. Eherenman, Mrs. Foster or Coach Rhodes.

And they also are part of the reason I graduated high school despite my personal circumstances; why I was able to get to college regardless of the odds; and why I graduated college with honors. Their hopes for me, their expectations and their belief in me pushed me and continue to push me. I don't want to disappoint them any more than I want to disappoint the other important people in my life. [[In-content Ad]]