There was a story many years ago of a school teacher--- Mrs. Thompson. She told the children on the first day that she loved them all the same. But that was a lie. There in the front row was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. He didn’t play well with the other children and he always needed a bath. She did not like him.

Then Mrs. Thompson got to know that Teddy was actually a very good boy before the death of his mother. Mrs. Thompson was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when, like all her other students, Teddy brought her a Christmas present too. It was his mother’s perfume (香水).

Teddy said, “Mrs. Thompson, today you smell just like my Mom used to.” After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she stopped teaching reading, writing and math. Instead, she began to teach children.

Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. The boy’s mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he improved. By the end of the sixth grade, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class.

Six years went by before she got a note from Teddy. He wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. He went to college. Mrs. Thompson got two more letters from him with the last one signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, M. D.(医学博士).

The story doesn’t end there. On his wedding day, Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson’s ear, “Thank you, Mrs. Thompson, for believing in me. You made me feel important and showed me that I could make a difference.”

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back, “Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn’t know how to teach until I met you.”

A 29-year-old woman Chelsea Haley of Marietta, Georgia, who adopted (收养) a former student and his brother, is now celebrating being completely debt-free. She has paid off a total of $ 48,683.41 — the amount she owed in credit cards and student loans with interest. “It doesn’t feel real yet,” Haley, mom of Jerome, 17, and Jace, 6, told the press.

Haley was teaching in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 2015, on a two-year commitment to Teach for America, which is an organization that finds recent college graduates to work in low-income schools. Her son, Jerome, was in her 4th-grade class at the time.

When Haley saw Jerome having difficulty in progressing academically, she started spending time with him — going to his football games, buying him school supplies and more. Soon, Haley adopted Jerome together with his brother. “Being their mom is the greatest blessing of my life,” Haley said.

Haley went to all the expense of adopting the two boys. She also borrowed money to afford taking care of them, which increased the difficulty for her to pay their student loans. Determined to rid herself of debt, Haley took on part-time jobs. On top of being a teacher, she was teaching an individual student or a small group in her spare time a couple of days a week. On Fridays, she was paid extra to stay late at the school and work as the building manager. Haley also delivered (送) groceries. She sold her home and moved back to live with her parents on Nov. 6. Her goal is to save money for a new house and prepare Jerome for college. Both boys are doing well in school.

“It allows me to focus on the boys’ future,’’ Haley said. “Earning and saving money for them, and not spending money saved in the past.”

Her advice for making a determined effort to free us of debt is never to ignore your spending and stick to a plan.

Teachers Used an Unusual Method to Motivate Students

—Sitting with Them at Lunch

How do brilliant teachers get that way? The question of how they developed has as many answers as there are inspired instructors. One example is an original and magnetic woman, Jackson, who has become one of the best ever at taking disadvantaged students to a new level.

Jackson was born in Altoona. Her father was a construction worker. When she was in the eighth grade, her father died just before Christmas. Her principal, Mrs. Brown, said not to worry about schoolwork for a while. That upset her. Her father would not have wanted her to do anything but her best. He always said, “Don’t let your first failure be the reason for your next.”

Jackson was an accomplished shooting guard in basketball and a star sprinter on the track team, running a quarter mile in 57 seconds. She thought she might become a sports broadcaster. She gave no thought to teaching until a friend took her to an orientation (迎新会) for a program called Teach for America, which placed novice instructors in schools full of low-income children. Jackson liked the idea of giving back, as well as the chance to have some of her student loans forgiven.

She is a big sports person, and that is how she connects with lots of kids. She couldn’t motivate children until she knew what was bothering or pleasing them. “Students learn from people who love them,” she said. “They will be motivated and inspired to learn if they know deep down that you care about them.” In class she gave basketball tickets to students who were doing their work. At weekly drawings they could win sticky notes, pencils or other small prizes.

She helped create after-school clubs. A tall student said to her, “ I’m a baller. I heard you playing ball.” There was a basketball league in Paterson but the school didn’t have a team. Jackson started one with support from local business executives. The student, Essence Carson, went to Rutgers University, was a first-round draft (运动员选拔制) selection for the WNBA’s New York Liberty and now plays for the Connecticut Sun.