12 Teachers Who Really Step Up When They're Needed Most

Our teachers play an important part in our lives, often making big impacts on our thinking, behavior, and personal growth. Some of them can even go beyond their duties and stand by us when we need them the most, just like the following teachers did in the stories below.

• I was a really weird kid in middle school. I was into metal, super hormonal, and I liked to wear my emotions on my sleeve.
  After learning that I played guitar and loved music, the school put me in touch with a newbie teacher who was great at guitar. He would hang out with me, keep me occupied, show me new music, we’d go out to eat, he was showing me stuff on guitar ... teaching me how to use certain effects pedals, etc.
  I would eventually not only carry a more positive and kind attitude, a more accepting ear for music, but also the skills he taught me into my own metal bands in the future. I thank him for hanging out with a kid. © obeythegiant / Reddit
• My freshman and sophomore year of high school, I had the same history teacher. He was a very tall, quiet, and dare I say, mysterious man.
  He was the first teacher I ever had who spoke objectively, never told us HIS opinion on any matters (unless we put a lot of pressure on him, and it was something that didn’t really matter). He always tried to get us to form our own opinions and never wanted us to get into the habit of doing work only to please him.
  If you were ever having a really bad day, say you’re emotionally drained, going through something, etc. he would let you sit in the back of the room by yourself in an area that he designated for you, and he would never call on you to answer or complain if you put your head down on the desk. © tierneymichele / Reddit
• One day, while teaching Math, our teacher suddenly paused. She quickly walked over to my classmate’s desk and snatched something from her, “What is this?!”
  When I saw what she was holding, I was shocked and burst into tears because how dare she steal my late mom’s drawing? I thought she was my friend!
  But then, the teacher gently returned the drawing to me. She knew it was mine—she had seen it on my desk every day. That moment still lives in my heart. It meant so much more than just getting a drawing back.
  It showed me that she noticed the quiet things, the unspoken grief, the small treasures we cling to. She didn’t say much, but at that moment, I felt seen. I still remember her, not just as a teacher, but as someone who truly cared.

• I have vivid memories of many science teachers who cared so much about the subject that they would stay after class to explain things and have literal discussions about scientific topics that intrigued me so much that I decided to pursue a degree in Biochemistry. I did indeed graduate with a degree in Biochemistry and obtained a minor in Chemistry because of these teachers. © campbellsco / Reddit
• Back in the day, I was one of the little skater punks who would rather be out cruising on a board than stowing away in a classroom that didn’t interest me. I thought I was cool and stuff.
  Once my sophomore year rolled, I saw that I had gotten “stuck” with the hardest and supposedly the strictest history teacher in the entire building. I was in shock and was entirely disgruntled by the fear that I would legitimately fail her class. If I missed a day at school, she offered to have me stay after class and write down her impossibly long notes that she, incredibly I might add, recited from memory.
  At first, I kind of thought it was annoying. Why would I stay behind and put some extra effort into a class that I didn’t even want to take? Then, the first test came around. I took the test, and man, that stuff was harder than anything I could imagine.
  As she passed the tests back the next week, she handed me mine and said, “You could do better.” I turned the papers over, and I got a 100%! The woman who was supposedly the meanest teacher in the school winked, smiled and patted me on the back, and laughed the happiest laugh I could.
  She set me on a path of hard work and excellence that would’ve been exponentially better than if she had not taken just a few extra hours with me and patted my back. © RoyalSilver / Reddit
• I was in 4th grade and had just moved across the country from Indiana to Upstate NY. It was the worst school transition I had ever been through.
  I was in private school, moving to a public school that was completely different. The kids were terrible, and the only thing I got to look forward to was my teacher. She was amazing. She taught me what kids did around here and how the way I acted was different, and that they wouldn’t understand some things I would say or do.
  She was there for me when my father was in a coma for a year. She got me and my older sister into a summer camp for free. Mind you, this camp costs around 400$ per child. We were at a rough time at our house, and she pulled some strings for me. © MrsBlackSpinach / Reddit

• Oh, man. 11th grade, AP English. I didn’t fit in very well with my classmates. I was that “really quiet, super awkward, bright-haired chick” in the corner of the room who always got good grades.
  Anyway, had a teacher who actually CARED about teaching. He cared about his students. He cared about me.
  Here we are years later, and we still meet up for coffee and discuss our latest writings. I will never forget the bond between us, it’s been one of a kind, and the fact that he makes time between school, his wife, and kids to just make sure I’m doing alright and still writing... it gets me through. Thank you, Mr. Curet!! © DearDeanna4 / Reddit
• My junior year of high school was a very, very hard year for me. The third period was Mr. Torrence’s Environmental science class. I genuinely enjoyed his class, and it was kind of a safe place for me.
  One Friday, I spent most of the day crying, but for different reasons. You know, the silent tears that don’t draw attention and that everyone kind of just ignores. Mr Torrence was passing out our worksheet for the class period, and on mine was a sticky note.
  All that was on the sticky note was a smiley face. I stopped crying for a little bit, and did my worksheet quietly, and learned about how water treatment plants work.
  At the end of class, Mr Torrence asked me to hang back, and he gave me a big hug and told me that whatever was going on, it was going to be okay. I cried the rest of the day, but because I was so touched and felt like someone actually cared, that my pain was visible and validated. © disclaimer_necessary / Reddit
• Mr. Morris, my high school physics teacher, was extremely passionate about physics and got me excited about it. I was in his class my junior year, but he was the reason I made it through my senior year. Even though I wasn’t in his class anymore, he always made time for me and listened and helped me see my potential as a physicist and as a person.
  I was going through a lot with my health, and he was always willing to listen and give advice (even though his own daughter was in and out of the same hospital I was, and she was a lot sicker). Every single day ended with him reminding me to keep smiling. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have graduated without him.
  And as I’m getting ready to begin my own career as a physics teacher this fall, I hope and pray that I can make a fraction of the difference in my kids’ lives that he made in mine. © soxfan91 / Reddit

• I had a third-grade teacher, Mrs. Gize, who somehow saw untapped potential in me. Before her class, I was struggling to read and do basic math. I was quiet, shy, and in danger of possibly being held back. My memory is hazy, but she saw that I could do more.
  She put me in GATE (Gifted and Talented), a special program for high achievers. It opened my mind, and suddenly I was reading at an above-average reading level, destroying multiplication tables, and keeping up with the best and brightest of my class. Even after all these years, I still look back on her influence fondly. She changed the course of my life forever. © Brain124 / Reddit
• My senior year of high school, my parents told me that we couldn’t afford to send me to the college I had fallen in love with. Being the emotional teenager I was, I cried myself to sleep that night. I looked awful the next day, with these super red, puffy eyes.
  I was at my locker after school when my English lit teacher came over, dropped two Starbursts on top of my locker, and just said, “Hey, it’s gonna be okay, kid. I promise.” He was a really great teacher in general, but the reason we all loved him was that it was clear that he actually cared about us as people. © andsuddenlybadgers / Reddit
• 5th grade, Mr. Taguchi. He was the first to take the time and talk to me and help me with my homework. He figured out that the reason I wouldn’t or couldn’t do my homework was because I didn’t have a space to work and no one to help me.
  Not that I didn’t have a home or anything, but my parents worked a lot, and my brothers were more concerned with partying and having their friends over. I rarely had support or, at the bare minimum, a place I could study in peace.
  He started staying late after school just to give me a place to do my homework. It helped immensely. © silentpower / Reddit

It’s really heartwarming to learn about these teachers and the selfless things they’ve done for their students in order to make them happier. To read similar stories about people who helped total strangers, read our next article, 15 Stories of People Being Saved by a Stranger They’ll Never Forget.