My most influential teacher was Mr. Sederholm. No argument about it! HANDS DOWN! What a wonderful teacher. He treated us with kindness & respect & had high expectations of us. He was a new teacher, fresh from Boston. I wish I could express his accent, which was always evident when he spoke of his hometown. Fortunately, he is still a teacher here in HISD & from time to time I e-mail him to let him know how special he is to me.

I remember that my love of reading began the day he started reading The Lion the Witch & the Wardrobe to us aloud. What rich moments those were. The whole class would sit on edge for those 5 minutes of reading aloud. I've been reading ever since. That's the power of a good teacher.

Over the months that I spent in his class I know that my life changed. I was inspired. I hope I am a Mr. Sederholm to at least one person out there.

Who's your Mr. Sederholm?