Readers React:  The teacher-student bond lives on after graduation

To the editor: Steve Lopez’s columns always earn my attention. Often they tug at my heartstrings and make me weep.

The column about Hamilton High teacher Alan Kaplan made me realize that real success in one’s life is measured by how one has made this a better world — in this case, for Kaplan’s students. (“Teacher pushed, cajoled, inspired,” Column, Sept. 27)

May Kaplan rest in peace, content that he was a true mensch — as attested to by his former students, some of whom traveled long distances to attend his funeral.

George Epstein, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Thanks to Sandy Banks for her timely column on teachers and their students. Not only do the teachers remember students but the students indeed remember their teachers. (“Yes, your teachers do remember you,” Column, Sept. 26)

For a number of reasons, each party retains elements of this interaction. On the day of this column, I had a chance meeting with a former student at a local supermarket.

This student had been in my class 20 years ago, and he has maintained his position with a large chain store for at least 15 years. Best yet, he remembered many of his other teachers as well.

Over the years, I have run across any number of former students working at local venues, and been assured by them that they regretted their earlier misbehavior (if there had been any) and that they were now doing well.

Sylvia Dohnal, Arcadia

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To the editor: Thank you for bringing the subject of a special teacher’s influence on children’s learning onto your pages.

Teachers like myself get bashed every day, blamed for students’ lack of knowledge or inability to pass an exit exam.

Billions tossed at Common Core tests and computer learning isn’t the answer. For-profit charter schools aren’t the answer.

Put one dedicated teacher into a classroom and results and learning will soar.

Joan Davidson, Palos Verdes Estates

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To the editor: What a great reminder that there are terrific teachers and schools within the Los Angeles Unified School District system, and that parents don’t have to send their children to expensive private schools.

For 20 years, I have been an L.A. Unified elementary school teacher in a feeder school to Hamilton. I constantly reassure my group of educated and mostly affluent parents, who are nervous about a public high school, how amazing the teachers at the high school have been.

The next time parents bring up their concern during a conference, I will happily pull out the column about Kaplan.

Genie Penn, Los Angeles

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