Lillian Galza, teacher of Intermediate Algebra and Trigonometry

As the school season opens, it seems a natural time to pay tribute to the resilient and resourceful teachers who affect the lives of so many.

So, we invited readers to tell us about their favorite teachers.

Not surprisingly, current students responded with nurturing and transformative experiences.

There's Heather Tomczyk of East Aurora Middle School, for one, who said: "If it wasn't for Mrs. Leary, I would be stuck doing boring homework in study hall, rather than in band having fun."

And Zoe Pearce, 11, who was cheered when Mrs. Endres, her Nardin Academy teacher, said: " 'Good morning, my wonderful fourth-graders.' And, I know she really meant it," said Zoe.

The surprise was hearing from so many whose school days dated back decades.

Take Donald Cudeck, 81, who attended St. Matthew's School in the 1930s. His teacher, Marge Beyer, realized that he wasn't grasping the material, leading to a test that detected his hearing loss. To catch up, he repeated second grade with her. Cudeck became a mechanic and serviced his former teacher's car for 41 years.

Then there are the Grover Cleveland High School graduates of 67 years ago, who recall their business teacher, 105-year-old Effie Dohany of Kenmore, as a real stickler. "She insisted on punctuality and accuracy," said Rita Dauria, who was reminded of Dohany's strictness recently. "I sent her an invitation to a luncheon honoring her," said Dauria, "but I somehow misspelled her name. So, she picked up the phone and called me on it."

Ouch.

Such teachers -- the ones who raise the bar and then help students over it -- are the most appreciated, students say.

Even when they "scared the living daylights" out of them, as a few reported.

Peg Lynch, 57, said Russell Macaluso "filled her heart with dread" in sixth grade. "He told us that he didn't expect the world, he expected the universe," said Lynch, who fondly recalls a bounty of field trips, recommended books and science projects. "We, the lucky students, were the lifelong beneficiaries of this gifted teacher for that one, golden year."

For sixth-grader Marguerite Hoover, the "bald and muscular" Mr. Hineman first scared her and then won her over, especially with his innovative teaching methods, including the textbook "Ketchup on Reading" and the weekly spelling test. "The 20 words were not simple words," she said. "For example, the one week we had 'deoxyribonucleic acid and human immun-odeficiency virus.' It was annoying, but it worked."

Jill Rappold recalls Ken O'Brien's booming voice at Maryvale High School. "You didn't hear a peep out of anybody that first week," she said. Most memorable was his reading of "The Contender," giving each character a different voice and personality. "Every time I read my class a story, I think back to him," said Rappold, "and it's been 25 years."

Pushed to excel

Some can pinpoint the ways in which a teacher opened their eyes to a subject, the world, even themselves.

Madonna Priore of Orchard Park recalls Paul Young of Canisius College saying: "If you think you are teaching science, no way! You are teaching the student science.

"I am so grateful that he took me, a square peg in a round hole, and taught me to be accepting of myself and, too, of the differences in others."

Dan Puccio, 23, thanks Ann Mosner of Maryvale High School for pushing him to join the select choir, to sing a solo part, and, later, to accompanying him on a recording for a scholarship application.

"Otherwise it would have been on my dinky tape recorder with no piano accompaniment," he said. "Because of her dedication, I was able to cut the cost of attending Canisius by a decent margin."

Ashley Putnam recalls a turnaround in mathematics, a subject she "absolutely despised" and never did well in, even with tutoring and review classes. "I felt as if I'd failed my parents and myself," she said.

Then she met Mrs. Galley, who "never made me feel small" and worked with her individually. "On the first day, no one was ready to learn, we were all stuck in summertime," she said. "So, she made us all stand and "dance."

"By dance, I mean moving our arms to remember graph axis and the quadrants. As corny as it sounds, it helps, and I still do it occasionally."

Always available

Becky Harbison credits Lillian Galza as a teacher "determined to pull us through Intermediate Algebra/Trigonometry" by being available before and after school, and during free periods.

"She took it personally if anyone failed," Harbison said. "Even if kids were dysfunctional or whatever other excuses that pass muster today, it was her job to reach them."

Meghan Wright credits Anne Ward of Amherst Central High School for introducing her to the intellectual exercise of free-ranging discussions. "It forced me to really interpret and apply what I am learning, rather than just spit back answers," she said.

Sharilyn Huard said her GED teacher, Melissa Moriarty, not only gave her information, but changed the way she views her abilities.

"When I first entered her class I felt a little embarrassed, and I was down all the time," she said. "I didn't think I was intelligent. She changed that. I was able to keep my goals in mind while I was reaching them, and I didn't even realize it."

Instinctively, students know when a teacher is on their side -- even when they show it by using squirt guns to cool them off, giving them affectionate noogies, letting them do their work under her desk.

Recent graduate Julia Miles of Lancaster appreciates the patience that her cosmetology teacher Daryle Gattuso showed with "a roomful of teenage girls." "You know how they can get a lot of attitude," she said. "But he knew that wasn't us, that inside was a good person."

Taught life lessons

From the dozens of responses, it became clear there are no cookie-cutter patterns for good teachers. They can be strict. They can be sweet. And even the unconventional can be effective.

Sharan Krystyniak, who attended the former Bishop Colton High School, describes Joan Van deWater, as a "ms. in a sea of nuns, mrs. and miss's." "Ms. V. would come into the classroom, close the door, sit on the end of the desk, light a cigarette, and talk about not only English and books and what she was paid to teach," recalls Krystyniak, "but she taught me about life."

"She taught me to find my own voice in life. I know I will always be able to close my eyes and hear her voice; telling me to go as far as reason will take me; then leap!"

Probably few students needed a teacher hero more than Ursula Falk, who was 10 years old when she came to this country, escaping the Holocaust. She entered fifth grade wearing a hand-me-down washed-out cotton dress and a blank, fearful expression making her the laughingstock of her school in Holidays Cove, W. Va. Besides that, she didn't know the language.

Her salvation was Miss Olive, who kept her after school and patiently pointed out objects so she could learn English. "I will never forget the person who opened the world for me," said Falk.

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© Copyright 2008, JOURNAL-WORLD, LAWRENCE, KAN.