I’ve had good teachers in my life. But there’s something to be said about a teacher who teaches you life skills, and not just the curriculum. Someone who dedicates her personal time, unpaid, to you, and encourages you and inspires you every day to be the best that you can be. This someone is my dedicated, compassionate, amazing teacher, Grace Bielski.
I’ve been so lucky to have Mrs. B as my choir teacher the past four years, and even luckier to have her the past three as my teacher in the Broadway Company, which is not only a musical theatre class, but a time consuming extracurricular as well. Teaching two different courses, she has a whole day of craziness on her hands. Of course, she has her partner in crime, Mrs. J, who divides with her the work of teaching hundreds of choir students and 50 Broadway students, but in December, just days before our winter concert, Mrs. J was unexpectedly rushed to the hospital. Walking into class that morning, you could feel sadness in the room. When Mrs. B, tears in her eyes, told us what had happened, I was amazed at how she was able to stand in front of all of us by herself and keep her composure. It was now up to Mrs. B to teach us the rest of our concert music, accompany all the songs, and organize the all choir choir concert by herself, and she did.
When it came time for the Christmas concert, Mrs. B’s actions taught us to be brave. Watching her take on all four of our school choirs alone, she inspired us all. She stood her ground and began what turned out to be a great concert. She showed us to keep courage and to work harder to achieve the things that we didn’t think possible.
Mrs. B also teaches us to be compassionate. One day she came up to me and my friend looking distraught. She proceeded to tell us about a post she had seen on facebook about refugees from Iraq who had come to Milwaukee with nothing. “There are families with children who don’t have winter coats,” she said, “we need to do something.”
In a matter of a day, she set up a coat drive throughout our whole choir department. She even went out and bought sweatshirts and jackets, in addition to bringing in several of her own. And this is how she is all the time. When she sees someone in need, no matter how big or small their troubles, she does all in her power to help. Seeing her so determined to make an impact on other peoples lives inspires us all to be selfless and giving.
Anyone in the world can be a good person, but there are few who use their goodness to make an impact on other peoples lives. That’s why I chose Grace Bielski as my educator of the year. She goes out of her way to not only teach us to be good students, but to inspire us to be the best we can be in all aspects of our lives. She inspires us to be amazing.