Readers Say These Woburn Teachers Are Tops

WOBURN, MA —Woburn Memorial High School English teacher Matthew Gangi credits Virginia Doyle of the Reeves Elementary School as being one of the reasons why he now teaches. This year, Doyle will retire after 56 years in the district, and Gangi is just one of hundreds of students who look back on her fondly.

"We did multiple fun projects — Greek mythology, Native-American tribes — and were pushed to improve ourselves beyond mere academics," Gangi said. "She's one of the reasons I now teach."

We asked Woburn Patch readers to help us mark Teacher Appreciation Week with stories about their favorite Woburn teachers, both past and present. The response was overwhelming and Doyle's talent seem to have worn off on her former pupil, as several readers mentioned Gangi.

"He never doubted me and was quick to side with me in having an opinion opposing unreasonable norms - obviously after playing devils advocate to see all sides of the argument of course," Danielle Perkins said. "Having a beer with Gangi would complete me. Thank you, Gangi, for my passion to impact the lives of students. I owe it all to you."

"Having Matthew Gangi for English class during my sophomore year of high school was a definite highlight," Kayla Nett added. "Not only did he further my already-present love of reading and writing, but his life lessons were invaluable and are things I still carry with me as a college student."

We heard from parents, too. They're the ones who see the teachers that go above and beyond, and they're the ones who get an extra dose of support from the teachers who go out of their way to make a difference.

"Kellie Curran who works at Woburn High school — if it wasn’t for her and the staff my son would have quit school," Debra Alba said. "With their help, patience, support and guidance he ended up graduating."

Meghan Schuurman said Lauren Kessaris at Altavesta Elementary School has been a great third grade teacher to her son, as well as his older brother, who isn't even her student.

"She has reached out and helped me cope with different behavioral speed bumps with my oldest son and offered support and advise as well as helped him during the day. We had a devastating circumstance happen in December and she has been amazing helping my boys and my family," Schuurman said. "She is so kind and understanding. It truly makes a difference in a child’s life to sit beside them and mentor them rather than look down to them. She is an amazing teacher and a wonderful woman. My son had zero interest in school and anything to do with learning and she had him reading and eager to learn within a month."

Unfortunately, we got too many comments on too many teachers to publish here. Parents and students, for example, seem to have nothing but great things to say about nearly every teacher at Goodyear Elementary. Below are some of the other comments we received from Woburn Patch readers:

• Karen Lisacki, 5th grade at Shamrock Elementary: "She is incredibly patient, caring and has taught my son so much not just academically, but about being a good human being. It’s been a rough few school years for him, and she’s help restore his confidence in going to school. I can’t say enough good things about this woman." — Amanda Auch
• Carole Torrice, 3rd grade at Goodyear Elementary: "She was the best! She always was kind and taught while making it fun for the kids." — Jane O'Dea
• "Ms. Beverly Smith was my 4th grade teacher at the Hurld many moons ago. She made me love learning and inspired me to go into teaching. Although I did not end up staying in education I still believe she impacted the adult I am today and how I work with others and continued my love of learning."— Rebecca Crosby
• Ms. Marshall, 3rd grade at Shamrock Elementary "My daughter is in fifth grade, and she still checks in on her. My daughter loved her so much the entire school year she wanted to wear her hair curly and came home every day teaching me her homework (after she put on a sweater)." — Leighann Stephan-Bidmead

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).