Teacher Gets Invite 21 Years After Writing 'Invite Me to Your Harvard Graduation' on Report Card
The jury is out on whether or not kids like school. Ask your average tween and you’ll probably get some vehemently negative reviews.
Many kids see school as an obstacle to their goals: it’s merely work that needs to be gotten out of the way, sidestepped, or merely endured for the minimum time necessary.
Then there are others who thrive in the school system. They live for presentations and essays, and stay involved in academia far beyond the reaches of high school.
While the subjects themselves may or may not appeal to any given student, the element that really makes a class come to life is the teacher.
There are some who have battled through years of trite pranks and student apathy and just trek on toward retirement, but there are plenty who put their blood, sweat, and tears into shaping the next generation into upstanding men and women.
One empathetic or innovative teacher can change the trajectory of a young person’s life — but they don’t always get to see the outcome. They’re part of a molding force that doesn’t always get to see the end result.
But one teacher from Arizona has gotten some vindication recently because of a note she wrote 21 years ago to an outstanding student.
Judith Toensing from Yuma, Arizona, wrote an encouraging note full of kindness and expectation on a report card back in 1997.
“It has been a joy to have you in class,” she wrote on the 12-year-old’s card. “Keep up the good work! Invite me to your Harvard graduation!”
Sometimes all it takes is a little confidence boost from an inspiring teacher to keep a student plugging on toward their dreams.
Christin Gilmer, the promising 12-year-old who received Toensing’s kind words, did graduate this year from Harvard with a doctorate.
She remembered her middle school teacher’s words, wrote her a thank you letter and Harvard honored the teacher’s request. Toensing got an invitation free of cost thanks to the school administrators!
Gilmer graduated as a doctor of public health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and remembered to recognize the role that her teacher played in her education.
Even Dean Michelle Williams recognized the crucial role teachers play in young people’s lives — they do so much more than fill out report cards and grade papers. They invest in their students. They push them to be all they can be.
“You don’t just teach young people,” said Williams during the graduation ceremony. “You inspire them, and you propel them along a path of fulfillment and service to others.”
“Your work is what makes our work possible. Thank you for everything you do, and please keep sending students our way!”
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