365 Days to 30/365 People Who Were Along for the Ride

Day #323 - Laura W.

Laura was one of my professors at Hopkins – one of my favorite professors! She taught a reading class I took where all we read were memoirs. She was my favorite kind of professor – she led the class, but didn’t over-lead – she let us talk. It was a tough class – we had to read a memoir a week – but such a rewarding experience. Some day I would hope to be the kind of teacher Laura was.

Day #305 - Pauline

Ohh, my skating girls will remember Pauline. She was one of the coaches at the Skating Club of Wilmington and boy was she uptight. Ha. Is that bad that I can remember three things about her and they are: 1) Her uptightness 2) Her short blonde bob and 3) Her British accent. I’m not sure she was ever my main coach, but I do think I took some lessons from her and I just remember her being mean. Making her smile was like the highlight of someone’s month or year.

Day #302 - Mrs. Lacasse

Mrs. Lacasse was the mother of my friend Laura Jean and also our "theater" teacher at the Skating Club of Wilmington. We put on many a production in those days - this picture is from one of them and Mrs. LaCasse is on the far left.

I remember one thing Mrs. Lacasse taught us in our theater course - and it was how to avoid getting a waddle (you know - the ugly skin under your chin?) It is a stretching exercise and I have no idea what it had to do with theater. I also remember an exercise she used to do with us called "cheech chong," and no, it had nothing to do with the pot-smoking actors. It was a way to get our faces ready for smiling for our performances.

My mom keeps in touch with Mrs. Lacasse and I always enjoy hearing what she's up to.

Day #291 - Andrea C.

Andrea was my skating friend and coach. She was a petite blond bombshell and a really, really powerful skater. I can still close my eyes and remember how powerful she was on the ice. I worked with her and my coach Jeff and they were a good team together.

I don't think Andrea is coaching anymore, and if that's the case, it's definitely today's ice skater's loss.

Day #275 - Mark S.

Mark was my high school chemistry teacher at Wilmington Friends School. And boy, did he have it rough with me! I have mentioned time and time again how poorly I was prepared in language, math, and science coming to Friends. Mark was always patient with my lack of knowledge, never frustrated and spent so much extra time with me.

And the one thing I took away from his class? He taught me that gum with sugar in it will actually give you worse breath because of the sugar. I still think of it when I pick up Trident in the supermarket checkout aisle. So if you are teaching, remember, you never know what will stick with your students!

Day #254 - Lisa D.

Lisa D. was the Head of School at Wilmington Friends when I first enrolled there. And similar to Landis G., she took a chance on me, really setting in motion the series of good events that has been my life since.

What I remember about Lisa was that she was soft-spoken, and kind, but could be tough when she needed to be. She was the kind of teacher (and leader) that you didn't want to disappoint. Neither she nor Landis are at Friends anymore, and I'm not sure the School could possibly feel the same without them.

Day #243 - Catherine K.

Mrs. K was one of my first teachers at Wilmington Friends School. And she was my math teacher, which was almost more difficult than being my Spanish teacher, considering the education I’d received prior to transferring.

She was kind and patient with me, which I’m sure was difficult. I never felt her frustration as I’m sure she would work through the more elementary problems. I will always remember that.

Day #225 - Nona S.

So funny that Nona’s name should come up today. She was my high school English teacher at Wilmington Friends. My mom remembers her as one of the first teachers that mentioned me looking into a career in public relations. I will always remember her as one of my most kind, caring, and diligent teachers.

Nona and I recently became friends on Facebook and then, in the small world that the eastern seaboard is, Ken and I ran into her and her husband at IKEA last week. I hadn’t seen Nona since the day I graduated in 1997, but I would have recognized her anywhere.

Day #222 - Matt M.

Matt was my high school English teacher. Another great teacher at Wilmington Friends School. I believe he was just out of grad school when he became our teacher, and a few years ago he moved to Maryland to become the Head of School at Baltimore Friends.

He was a great teacher, and I have no doubt he’s a great Head of School. I see him occasionally at school events (our schools are part of a collaboration of schools in the Baltimore area) and he always shakes his head and says, “Laura Kirk, when did you grow up?”

Day #220 - Gary I.

Gary was one of my more eccentric skating coaches. He was Australian (I think?) and his accent became more and more exaggerated as the day (and his patience) wore on.

His crazy accent and his even crazier curly hair are about all I can recall of Gary. I met someone a few months ago whose daughter is taking lessons from him and was comforted to hear from her stories that he hasn’t changed much over the years.