Pushed, Respected, Challenged, Loved

I was told for years that I was “stupid, slow and not good enough.”  If it wasn’t for the teachers at EGHS who truly believe in their students and pushed us all past our comfort zones, I would not have graduated college with a BS in Physics. 

I can’t even begin to tell you the impact East Greenwich High School has had on my life. My teachers believed in me more than I believed in myself and that confidence is what changed my life. They pulled me out of my shell, but reinforced my strengths. They embraced my weaknesses, but encouraged me to get help. Teachers are more than knowledge communicators: they were the second closest, if not first, interaction to adults we had through out our teenage years. As a result, teachers unintentionally become a catalyst for how we love, forgive and respect people. The most influential moments of a teacher’s life are outside of the classroom: the time that is not paid and the actions that are not listed as a requirement on their applications. One can never repay for the time teachers have sacrificed for their students. Teachers from EGHS spend hours before and after school for their students. Some of us even call them our family. One teacher picked me up from school in the morning just so I could participate in extra-curricular activities. Another showed up an hour early to school every week to tutor me in a topic that we both knew I would never use again. Another teacher inspired me to act and copied twenty CD’s for me to listen to and be inspired. Not only do these people go the extra mile, but they prepare us to be self-motivated, determined, diligent and hopeful. We were always pushed but respected and challenged but loved. It’s a rare thing to experience teachers that take on the role of a mentor, parent, friend and tutor every day all in one building. 

 "In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day's work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years." ~ Jacques Barzun

Bianca Sperduti
​EGHS Class of 2011