I was a student that was headed nowhere fast in high school. I had failing grades, expelled, it got to the point where I was a third year freshman. I was not being academically challenged. I was told to drop out by my counselor. Luckily, I am very hard headed and didn’t listen to her. My district opened an alternative program that same year so I enrolled. It was at the alternative school that I found Mrs. Beth McGrath. She taught English and was a breath of fresh air. Mrs. McGrath was kind, loving, encouraging, and real. She made academic material fun… I will forever love Shakespeare and Robert Frost because she had a love of the material she taught and because she cared. The year I was set to finish school, a teacher I was very close with passed away; she was physically there for me the day I got the news. I graduated and went on to teach to take his place. I currently am a School Counselor and serve on the board for NSEA. It has been over 20 years and I still hear from Mrs McGrath.