Mrs. Rose Ellis - An Inspirational Teacher

I saved every essay I ever wrote for Mrs. Rose Ellis. Of course, I didn't remember that until today - when I found out she had passed away. Looking through an old file box, I found them - all thirteen of them. And they are all decorated in red with her lovely and kind handwritten comments.

Reading through those comments now, I realize how lucky I was to have an English teacher like Mrs. Ellis.

On September 3, 1987, (my birthday) Mrs. Ellis wrote on the last page of my essay, "A Place in My Mind," "Danan, you have a gift for writing. Good Description. I enjoyed this!" That meant alot to a kid like me. On a later essay she wrote that I was a "natural writer." There are smiley faces on other papers and little notes like "Use 'afflict' not 'inflict'." She corrected all my misspellings. She underlined every preposition without an object. She always took the time to make comments like "You're darling!" and "We're proud of you."

She had such a sense of humor when it came to grading those horrible papers. At the end of "Rodeo: A Persuasive Essay," Mrs. Ellis wrote, "Have you considered sending this to a rodeo magazine? It's full of errors, but it's good!"

In the classroom, Mrs. Ellis made everything interesting. She was the first to introduce me to Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar). She loved literature. She loved talking about it, and she loved inspiring her students to read and write.

She certainly inspired me. In fact, if it hadn't been for Mrs. Ellis I probably would not be typing this now. I wouldn't be a writer, and I certainly wouldn't have followed in her footsteps as an English Teacher. So much of what she did for me back then determined the direction of my life now.  I can only hope that I have adopted a tiny bit of her grace, and her ability to encourage others. It would be the  greatest honor one day to have someone feel the same way about me.