Kindness Matters

Let me tell you the story about Grazyna. No, not about me. About the person on the picture below standing there with me.

Her name is Grazyna, and she was my teacher in primary school.

1978, Beginning of Primary School (me in the middle)

1986, Last year of Primary School (me 15 years old)

Miss Grazyna Sztarbala was my primary school teacher for almost 8 years. From Kindergarten to Year 8 which was our education system back than. She was responsible for my class, teaching Polish language and grammar. We were a group of good, loud, quiet and trouble making students. She was a young teacher, and we totally kept her on her toes. But she coped with all of us so well. It is because of her that I really loved Polish language, grammar and literature. I could see that she loved what she was doing, and despite of having it tough in class, she shared her passion to learn: read and write fluently, how to articulate our thoughts and opinions, participate in debate, and being prepared us for the future study. But she was much more than a great Polish language teacher. She was a woman who sincerely shared with us some of her wisdom,  life experiences, and showing us how to be responsible for our actions. She taught us for being systematic, organized, and prioritise our tasks and a good time management. She was simply a clever, witty and kind person. She valued every student, treated individually with respect and great hope that I could see in her eyes. She always tried to find something good in each person. She raised the bar high in a way a teacher has hope and wish in her students, but at the same time she was able to go down to our level. She would always go an extra mile if needed in order to help any of us. Being an excellent, kind teacher, needless to say, many students including myself still keep in touch until today. Starting her retirement from teaching recently, she remains active and inspire others with her enthusiasm and love of life.

True teachers are inspiring others :

Good teachers learn from others and students:

One of many lessons I learned for being a teacher myself for over 10 years is that learning never ends. There are many new things we can learn each day.

Just like Jesus,  He taught his disciples and the crowds with patience and kindness.

We don’t need to be a teacher to teach others. Our teaching methods are those attributed to St Francis: “Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words”.

Have a good day,

Sr Grace