In April 1952, I was 11 years old and in the sixth grade at William Cleveland Elementary School, in Houston, Texas. My teacher was Miss Ada Pemberton. It was spelling bee time in our city—students were issued booklets of words to study in preparation for the classroom spelldowns. They would lead to a schoolwide contest and eventual qualification for the citywide bee, where school winners competed for the honor of being the spelling champion of Houston.
The day before the classroom spelling bee, my youngest brother was playing with matches and accidentally set a fire in our apartment. My mother made sleeping arrangements for all of us and called the school in the morning to inform Miss Pemberton of the accident, knowing that the class spelling bee was that day.
When I arrived at school, Miss Pemberton pulled me aside. She asked if I wanted her to postpone the spelling bee to another day because of my upset about the fire. I told her no. That day, I won the bee for my classroom.
The next week was the school spelling bee, with classroom champions competing. I won again! The citywide spelling bee was one month away.
Every Sunday afternoon, Miss Pemberton would pick me up, and we would go to her residence, where she would help me practice by calling out spelling words. After a couple of hours, Miss Pemberton would take me to Rettig’s ice cream parlor, where we would enjoy a hot fudge sundae, an indulgence I’d never had. We practiced every weekend until the citywide spelling bee with all the school champions from the Houston Independent School District.
I did not win the citywide bee, but I still felt proud to have participated. I also felt grateful that I had such a caring teacher in elementary school.
—Darlene Rabe, Houston, Texas
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Source : https://www.rd.com/true-stories/inspiring/inspiring-teacher-stories/