To Freshman English...

"Great job to everyone involved with the Holiday Celebrities: Criminal Justice play! Your performances were wonderful and certainly made Mrs. Huber proud!"

--Bison High School Bulletin: April 12, 2010

I do not know when this performance was, or who added the message, but it sure sounds like the Mrs. Huber I remember who always posted words of encouragement and congratulations in our daily bulletin years and years ago when I was in school.

She was my first English teacher.

On my first day of high school, I was terrified. I had attended school in Nisland through the eighth grade. Our little country school setting did not prepare me for the my first day as a freshman. My heart was beating so hard all day I could hardly breathe. I don't remember much except how overwhelmed I felt. She was standing by her door at the top of the stairs, and with her vivacious personality, she warmly introduced herself with her big smile as looked into my eyes...and in that moment I relaxed a bit, and I knew that her class would nurture me...which it did.

Her class also encouraged me to experiment with language and writing. She gave me the freedom from the constraints of grammar lessons that gave me my first glimpse into the beauty of writing. Though that didn't mean we didn't learn our grammar (smiling)! I still remember that pesky grammar grade beneath the content grade scrawled in her familiar handwriting that managed to balance the comments of encouragement and with those of improvement!

Mrs. Huber's energy and spirit kept me engaged for what would become a lifelong journey for me. The last day of my sophomore English class was bittersweet because though she had prepared me well for my junior year, but my heartfelt appreciation for her kindness to that terrified little freshman girl just couldn't be articulated yet. I hope she saw it in my eyes...and through the years, I am confident she felt it in her heart...because that is where she carried her students.

When I graduated and set off for college, I didn't plan to pursue a degree in teaching or English or Speech, but in the years ahead it would become my course. Before I had even graduated, I found myself teaching a speech and debate class at Billings Senior High School. Once again I was a terrified "freshman" as I stood in front of all those students and realized I had so much to learn.

Without fully realizing it until years later, I reached back to my own experiences as a student. My first priority as I stumbled through the content was to connect to each student on a personal level...to find what nurtured their spirit...what they loved. Slowly learning together, we discovered what we did and didn't know, and together we learned what we didn't in our attempt to became a team. Ironically, we had strong success despite the odds, but our rag-tag little team came together from many different backgrounds and interests, forged unlikely friendships, and unanimously supported and helped each other.

I knew then that Mrs. Huber would be proud. Now I realize that I took the student experience she gave me, and with dogged persistence I tried to pass it onto my students. I discovered that I learned far more than English skills in her classroom...I had learned life skills about people...about compassion and teamwork.

Of course, I haven't seen her for years and years. Like so many students, I hold fond memories in my heart of my special teachers as life carries us away in different directions. Amongst those memories is the awareness that Mrs. Huber shared herself and her passions with her students from the heart throughout the years. Each child took something different away from her class that was important for them. She knew not every child would grow to teach English, but she enjoyed those differences.

Mrs. Huber passed away on Saturday, April 10.

In my heart a part of her will always live on...as it does for each student whose life she touched. A humble life filled with laughter and love of life...but within it a legacy that will last for generations as the seeds she planted will grow in all the lives she touched.

Forever young she will remain in my memories in my vision of her that first day.

Thank you, Mrs. Huber.

Class Dismissed.