Kellie Brownell -- Student Outlook
As students, we come across a wide range of teachers. Some prefer to
encounter blue or black ink, while others strictly allow pencil. Some
want your name on your paper while others want your identification code.
And some infuse their teaching with all the energy that can be mustered
from their spirits, teaching not only what is demanded by the curriculum,
but values and lessons that will leave an impression for the rest of each
student’s life.
They are the type of teachers who live on in their students’ memories
long after graduating from the class or even school. They are cherished
as the gems of their education that brought learning and textbooks to
life with vivacity and profundity. And though their time might be limited
in the classroom, the imprints they leave last forever. After teaching
for 26 years at a small private school in Corona del Mar, one such
teacher, Mrs. Judy Day d’Albert, has retired from the classroom.
From the first day she walked into her class nearly three decades ago,
she was on her way to becoming the legendary Mrs. d’Albert she is today.
Fifth grade was a turning point in any student’s life who passed through
her classroom. It was the last year of having one teacher all day long
before graduating into the six-period system. She was a woman of strict
standards and the type that demanded the use of colored, Expresso pens to
coordinate your notes. As a former headmaster once said in regard to her
teaching, “If you could survive Miss Day, you could make it through
college.” She had a reputation for expecting the most out of kids and a
talent for extracting it. And even though she was a notorious stickler,
there was an air about her that even fifth-graders held in respect.
Perhaps it was because of her English accent and Cambridge University
degree or her extensive knowledge and passion for everything she taught
or, most likely, her unparalleled connection with students that extended
far beyond the fifth-grade classroom.
Over the years, d’Albert has taught hundreds of kids who don’t just
pass through her class and on to the next, but whom she forms a
relationship and common bond with into their college years and beyond.
She has become a primary resource for contacts and information worldwide
due to her everlasting dedication to her students and alums of her
classroom. The mention of any college or profession will result in an
effusion of anecdotes and stories about students and friends who go there
or do that or have been there. But she does not just stay in contact with
so many people, she creates deeply knit friendships, continually adding
to her growing family of endearing friends.
From the “Message in a Bottle” projects to Colonial Day, and every
moment in between, d’Albert taught her kids how to aspire in the face of
challenges and how to go the extra mile in whatever you do. But most
remarkably she inspired people to “shoot for the moon . . . if you miss,
you’ll land among the stars,” d’Albert’s everlasting motto.
* KELLIE BROWNELL is a Newport Harbor High School junior whose columns
will appear on an occasional basis in the Community Forum section.
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