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.