Meet Courtney. Or as I like to (still) call her- Mrs. Wellmann. The first time I knew of Mrs. Wellmann's existence was two years before she was my teacher, when I had Coach Wellmann as my history teacher in the 8th grade. I saw her picture on his desk and I remember thinking, "hm, she's pretty." Two years later, she ended up being my sophomore English teacher. I don't remember much about that class because, let's face it, that was awhile ago, but what I do remember is that I really enjoyed it, I made good grades, and I liked my teacher. The three specific memories I have are the following. First, that she played The Chair, by George Strait, for us to discuss as a class. Second, that she and Coach Wellmann said that if they could adopt me, they would (I was so flattered!). Thirdly, at the end of the year, she asked me to join the Journalism staff the next year. I don't know if I ever told her, but that was really special to me, because it really boosted my self esteem.
I took Journalism with Mrs. Wellmann the following two years. Those two years in that class were some of my favorite memories of High School. I learned so much about writing, got to compete in contests and even won some! She helped me find a talent I didn't even know I had as a teenager, and that's a really important time to discover talents. But it wasn't just the learning that I loved. I really loved how much she cared about all of us. It was a different type of class than the others. It was the fun class that I really looked forward to... where we could relax and be ourselves, yet due to the makeup of students, we all knew the expectations and met them. It was a great experience. And then there were the "late nights" that we worked on the newspaper. Oh my goodness. That's when the show Friends was on, and we'd go down to a classroom with a TV and watch it, then get back to work. We'd leave after 11 p.m. on those nights, and I lived far away from school, but she'd always ask me to call her when I got home to let her know I got there safe. That's what I'm talking about, she always let us know she cared. And that meant the world to me.
It's been 15 years since I graduated from High School. And during those 15 years, I've kept in touch with Mrs. Wellmann. I've watched as her life has changed and she has seen my life change. She's been there for me through some rough times and through some exciting times, even though she didn't have to be, because I was just a student, or even someone who used to be a student. But she never stopped caring and to this day, I believe, is one of my biggest cheerleaders. Mrs. Wellmann is someone who has impacted my life more than she can know, for a lot of reasons, but mostly because she is one of the reasons I am a teacher today. She is someone I looked up to as a student 15 years ago, and someone who I still look up to now. I admire who she is... she is funny, thoughtful, kind, sweet, giving, encouraging, intelligent, honest, hopeful, ambitious, and so many more things. I'm so thankful she is in my life.
Also, if you're reading this Mrs. Wellmann, I'm sure it's full of grammatical errors, and for that, I'm sorry!
**This is part of the 52 portraits series**
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