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| Messages to Miss Foster |
| Class of 1981 From Cythia Zimmerman I have fond memories of my first teacher at Morrison, Pat Foster. She influenced me greatly as a student and performer. Her confidence in my abilities made me eventually believe in myself, especially since school was very difficult for me due to having dyslexia. Along with my family, Pat gave me the tools and encouragement needed to succeed in school, and to believe that I could obtain anything if I put my mind to it, even a college education. I loved performing in Miss Foster's theatre productions. Theatre and singing were outlets in which I excelled instead of struggled. In many ways, her shows made my scholastic frustration bearable. In closing, I'd like to share a fond memory of Pat. One day before class, she found a stray kitten and put it in the bathroom (at the back of the classroom) until school was over. She asked that I help her set-up a bowl of water and a litter box, which I gladly did since I loved animals, especially cats. During class the kitten kept meowing so she asked me to go "quiet it down." However, every time I tried to leave the kitten would meow even more, so Pat let me hold the kitten at my desk for the rest of the class. What a nice way to go over a grammar lesson, with a purring kitten on your lap! Thanks Miss Foster! Cindy Zimmerman Class of 1982 Received on 1 July 2002 from Beth Jones Dear Miss Foster Nothing I can write could adequately express the warm spot I have in my heart for you. Over the years, when asked to think of a favourite teacher of someone who had an impact on my growing up years, I have always thought of you. First of all, you were a very good teacher. You went beyond just teaching though, you related to me. You expressed a genuine concern for me and would sneak in comments that made me feel special. It has always been clear to me that your first love has been the Lord. You set a wonderful example of doing one's best, and being driven by God's love - thank you! I also remember the poem about the gum chewing student and the cud chewing cow, and I got a kick out of having one of my own students write it a few times for me this past year. Thanks Miss Fsoter! Love, Beth (Jones) Thomas From Sherry Kwok I started at Morrison in 8th grade. The beginning of 8th grade was very lonely since I couldn't speak any of the languages that people around me spoke - English, Mandarin and Taiwanese. My classmates weren't exactly friendly except for Susan Vandenberg and Leslie Jackson. My Dad told me that I could communicate with my smiles and body language. He was wrong! I soon realized that it would only work with good looking grown ups! When I got my first report card - I had all Ps (Pass) except for Math. Miss Foster very kindly explained to me that it was all right to receive Ps and not ABCs. She assured me that it was perfectly fine to study in my own pace and that I could go to her anytime if I needed extra help after school. Being a very lonely kid at the time, I was deeply touched by this wonderful lady who cared and expressed it so sincerely. I wanted to do better in all of her classes. I worked harder not only in her classes but also in my ESL studies. In the beginning, I never used to do any of the reading assignments for American History class. Later on, I really made the effort to do the reading of which would easily take me 3 to 4 hours to finish a chapter. In retrospection, 8th grade was the only year that I had taken my studies seriously at Morrison. I did it - not only because I wanted to learn English so that I could blend in with the kids but also because I was motivated by Miss Foster's magic and creativity! I enjoyed almost all of her classes. (I thought American History itself was deadly boring but the reading of Johnny Termain in class was very good.) Language and Literature classes with Ms Foster was never boring for a second - her love and creative approach to the subjects turned the lessons into dances for our young minds. In short, during my five years at Morrison while most of the teachers had either taught the subjects or taught me; Miss Foster was among the very few who INSPIRED me! Miss Foster, Thank You. Sherry Kwok Received on 25 June 2002 from Todd Swathwood I don't know where to begin a letter of appreciation for Patricia Foster, who will forever be known to her former students as Miss Foster. I'll never forget the consequence for chewing gum - "The gum-chewing student and the cud-chewing cow..." - even though I wasn't much for chewing gum! I distinctly remember coming home from school after the first day of 7th grade and telling my parents that it was going to be a horrible year because our homeroom teacher was SO mean. My parents, who were teachers themselves, knew exactly what would happen as the year went on. We went on to have a great year and I think everyone in that class would agree that Miss Foster would always be one of our favourite teachers. As 8th graders, we had her for a few classes, but it wasn't the same having someone else as our homeroom teacher. Then again in high school she taught us and we all eagerly looked forward to having her there. After 21 years of formal school followed by 5 more years of on-the-job training as an intern and resident, I can honestly say that I have had no better a teacher than Pat Foster. My hat's off to you, Miss Foster. I hope you truly understand what you have meant to all of us through the years. You did it right. Thank you so very much. Todd Swathwood Class of 1984 From Lisa Willman Campbell Miss Foster was our class' saving grace We had a very rowdy Seventh Grade year, with a sweet lady teacher who couldn't keep control. We got to the point where we not only talked back to our teacher, but on at least one occasion we actually put her out of our classroom. I remember our Principal calling the Middle School classes together and pointing our class out as an example of what not to be like. Then came the first day of Eighth Grade with Miss Foster. (unbeknownst to us at the time, she'd heard rumors about our horrible class on her return from furlough and was scared of us.) We walked into our new homeroom classroom to be met by one stern little lady. She didn't smile and she didn't talk. When the bell rang, she went from desk to desk and slammed down a list of rules that must have been five pages long. Then she spent the morning sternly outlining the horrors that we would know should we ever step out of line in her class. I remember being a very subdued bunch of kids as we left that day. She followed the "don't smile 'til Thanksgiving" rule. And we finally started to learn. I still remember the European history Miss Foster taught us in Eighth grade. I remember our class newspaper, our study of types of persuasion (remember "get on the bandwagon"?), our skits, our spelling and grammar lessons, and the devotion to Bible memory that I still have because fo her. And finally, when she felt it was safe to start smiling at us, I remember the meals at her house and the Birthday cakes and the fun. We met her again in high school, where she taught us term paper and literature and poetry. We were a happy class by then. And I think we enjoyed our high school years as much as we did, at least partially, because Miss Foster took a bunch of cocky preadolescents and made us behave ourselves and learn. Thanks Miss Foster. Lisa Willman Campbell Class of 1989 From Peter Lee Being an ESL student, English was a difficult subject for me. I struggled with spelling, dreaded paper writing, and laboured over thick novels. I still remember the stages of developing a thesis sentence, and learning how to find books in the library. I remember the silver chalk holders Ms Foster used in class, so she won't get fingers dirty. It has been 15 years since Macbeth and my weekly does of Vocabulary tests, and since then, I have researched in all different kinds of libraries, written thousands of pages of papers, and give sermons and lectures regularly in English. But Ms Foster not only taught English, but diligence, integrity, and prudence. To me, she was friendly yet stern, gracious yet strict, she treated us equally, yet personally. If I were to bump into Ms Foster today, it would be like seeing an old friend. Ms Foster has achieved much through the lives of all her students, and God has achieved much through the life of faithful teacher. Thank you Ms Foster, and God bless you! Peter M Lee Would you like to leave a message for Miss Foster? We would be delighted to post a message for you - may you be an alumnus or a faculty member - email us! We will continue to update this page as we receive new messages. Please check back again! This page was first published on 22 June 2002 Last updated 2 July 2002 (GMT+8) |
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