I was never the most outgoing kid, or the smartest kid in class, but I always had a smile on my face. I was the happiest in Mrs. Martz’s second grade classroom at Hartland North Elementary School. Her room felt like home, comfortable and filled with the people I enjoyed being around. Brightly colored papers and posters hung over the walls of her room, she liked to display every kid’s work because it made her feel proud. Each and everyone of my classmates looked excited and happy to be in her classroom. She made learning fun! Mrs. Martz wasn’t just an average teacher—her smile dazzled and her personality shone above the other teachers at my school.

Mrs. Martz was a short woman with blonde hair who loved every kid she taught, no matter how difficult they could be. She taught me even though there were going to be difficult people in your life, you can’t let those people affect your success and your future.

Mrs. Martz looked at everyday like it was a good day, no matter what was going on. This taught me to always stay positive, and to know some things can’t be controlled so you must continue on living. I valued everything she taught me. I don’t think I would be the person I am today without her.

She taught me everything—from math, to writing, to always being nice. Her class was fun to be in. I didn’t care we had to do school work. As long as we were in her classroom, we would have fun.

Mrs. Martz was a thoughtful teacher. She cared about her students like they were her family. I remember how much she loved writing and teaching us how to write stories. She had a clothespin line hung up in her room where hung our best work, we even got to draw a cover page. I remember how much fun we had sharing their stories and how proud we were when we got to hang up our work. This taught us to work hard and to be proud of the things we accomplish. That was one of my favorite things to do. I always looked forward to writing days.

There are an abundance of things I loved about going to Hartland North Elementary School, but Mrs. Martz was my favorite. Second grade was my last year at that school. I would then go the Hartland South for third grade. I was going to miss walking past her in the hallways at school, a smile on her face like nothing could ever go wrong. She’s the teacher I remember whenever I think about elementary school.

My older sister also had Mrs. Martz for second grade and we talked about how she such an amazing role model. Even as my sister and I grew up, Mrs. Martz still stayed involved in our lives and made sure to check in on us. She was such a major part of our lives.

“My god, how you’ve grown up!” Mrs. Martz exclaimed to me and my sister.  

Last summer, my sister graduated from high school and we invited our favorite teacher to her graduation party. I hadn’t seen her in awhile and it was as if nothing changed. She was the same bright person who changed the way I looked at life. It was amazing to see how much she still knew about me. It made me feel special the way she still cared about her students even after nine years.

She inspired me to become the person I had always wanted to be. So, thank you, Mrs. Martz for everything you have taught me. Thank you, for always putting a smile on my face. And most importantly, thank you, for being the best teacher I could have ever asked for.