This I Believe : In Honor of Penny Payte McLeaish

 

Edward R. Murrow

“Fifty years ago, millions of Americans sat by their radios and listened to This I Believe with Edward R. Murrow . For five minutes each day, they heard from statesmen and secretaries, teachers and cab drivers, all of whom spoke about their most deeply held beliefs.” ( NPR Radio transcript).

Penny Payte McLeaish, a dear friend and former teaching colleague who passed away last week, was the best high school American history, government, English teacher, and debate coach that I have ever known.

The accolades that she and her students received throughout her career are too numerous to list. 

That, however, is not the source of my admiration.

I admired Penny for her mind and her heart and for her love of the Big Idea- much as Edward R. Murrow conveyed in his This I Believe series.

This love of the Big Idea honored and encouraged and instilled in her students the skill of critical thinking and ran contrary to injustice or separation of any kind: racial, political, spiritual, or intellectual.

Penny, or Mrs. McLeaish as my three daughters called her, because yes she taught all three of them, was fearless in her sense of what was just .

The good news is she was just as fearless in her sense of what was ridiculous. Watching the expression on her face, during some strange staff development session we were forced to attend, was a priceless joy her colleagues will never forget.

Above all tonight I thank Penny for the gifts of thinking and independence that she nurtured in my daughters.

This I Believe:

My life and the life of my daughters will be forever changed  and blessed by knowing Penny Payte McLeaish.