# Best Teacher You've Ever Had **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 11, 2005, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teacher-youve-ever-had/293962 "2005-03-11T03:23:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teacher-youve-ever-had/293962/21 "2005-03-13T12:39:57Z")
Dr.Sastry…if you areout there,please give a yell! I can’t say enough good about this guy…he was my freshman physics professor. He made everything clear, and was alwys willing to spend the time listening to a confused undergraduate. And, as an Indian -American, I thought that Dr. Sastry might have a bit of a language barrier…not at all! Truly a fine man and an excellent professor! ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teacher-youve-ever-had/293962/22 "2005-03-13T13:29:38Z")
Mr. Reker, 7th grade. He taught social studies and religion. One day, he sent a fellow student, Jim, on an errand to the principal’s office. As soon as Jim left, he told us that he had noticed a disturbing trend recently. Jim apparently had been eating alone in the cafeteria and sitting by himself at recess. (Who knew?) And he, Mr. Reker, was there to put an end to it that very day. And, hoo boy, did he give it to us. So my favorite teacher isn’t the one who patted my back the most. It was the one who took us to the mat for being “wickedly blind” for failing to notice that a fellow human being was in need of a friend. I had never felt so deeply ashamed of myself than I did that day. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teacher-youve-ever-had/293962/23 "2005-03-13T19:21:28Z")
Ms. Nettie Jennings & Ms. Carolyn Blackstock- both were high school English teachers in Elmore County, AL who gave me confidence and encouragement at a time I needed it most. Dr. Pat Bradley- a history professor (specialty medieval) at Auburn University of Alabama who truly made me think about human nature and politics without being a preachy “I’m going to shove my own thoughts into your head and call it teaching” style. She was also incredibly knowledgeable (even for a Ph.D.) and funny as hell. She has now gone on to become a trickstery goddess. Dr. David Walker- the philosophy/logic professor who truly set me on the path that reprogrammed and or jumpstarted critical thinking skills. ---
**Author:** ![MaryEFoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MaryEFoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaryEFoo)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teacher-youve-ever-had/293962/24 "2005-03-13T22:05:16Z")
Mr. Green, Santa Cruz High School math. Mr. Alpheus Green. And I just googled him, and found: > [@](#): > > Posted by: Caffeinated Curmudgeon at December 24, 2003 06:56 AM > > Being an old geezer, finishing high school in 1957, I never had the enhanced learning experience of the picture-book math texts. > > But we had a legendary math teacher, who took us through solid geometry and trig. No calculus. But a serious treatment of the other two subjects. > > I have been an engineer and land surveyor throughout my career. The mathematics we received in high school sufficed for all of it. The many units of calculus and other exotica I took in college were demanding mental games, but the work never demanded them. > > Thank you Alpheus Green. Better said than I could have. Thank you, Alpheus Green. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teacher-youve-ever-had/293962.md?page=1)