Bakersfield.com: Kern County news, events, classifieds, shopping, & search

Great teacher helped shape life's course

BY LEONEL MARTINEZ, contributing columnist | Wednesday, Dec 13 2006 10:20 PM

Last Updated: Wednesday, Dec 13 2006 10:24 PM

Here's how Mrs. Krauter changed my life:

When I was in her seventh-grade English class at Haven Drive Junior High School in Arvin, she noticed that the work was too easy for me. So she transferred me to public speaking class.

Public speaking turned out to be the toughest class I ever took outside of college. But it also gave me an often underrated, but valuable skill. Over the years, the ability to speak well gave me the edge in countless interviews, first for scholarships, then for jobs.

Speaking for journalism classes, career days and other events from kindergarten to the college level, I've preached the benefits of education and learning to write well for about 20 years. I never know if it's done any good. But each time I go before another group of people, I know one thing: I wouldn't be there if it wasn't for Mrs. Krauter.

Most of us can't change the world, but if we do our jobs well, we might be able to change the worlds of those around us just a bit. Maybe even a lot. That's what 17-year Arvin teacher Mary Krauter did for me.

And she did it in a way I didn't appreciate at the time: By putting me in a place I did not want to be to do something I did not want to do. Isn't that how we learn the best lessons?

My first speech in public speaking class was excruciating. I sweated, my stomach quaked, my legs trembled, and I felt like bolting from the room. But I must have done something right because the teacher gushed about how good I was. It was just what an introvert needed to feel good about himself.

In fact, I got good enough to deliver speeches at my junior high and high school graduations and breeze through speech class in college. After starting a career in newspapers and taking a job as a reporter at The Californian, I lost track of Mrs. Krauter.

But when I became a columnist three years ago, the now-retired teacher began to e-mail me with words of encouragement. The messages came every few months, and they were nothing profound. Great job. Keep it up. Don't let the critics get to you.

Yet coming from my junior high English teacher, they meant a lot. After a barrage of particularly nasty e-mails, a compliment from Mrs. Krauter was just the salve I needed.

The last time I talked to Mrs. Krauter was on the phone less than a year ago. She sounded tired, so I asked her how she was doing. She said not very well. She couldn't stay on the phone long, so I thanked her for all her kind words over the years and hung up.

I knew she was sick, but I didn't know how sick until last week, when I opened a newspaper to read an article about her husband and learned that in June, Mrs. Krauter died at age 82.

I wish I'd have known. I wish I would have gone to the funeral. I wish I could have said goodbye.

But if I didn't say it clearly enough that day on the phone, Mrs. Krauter, I'll say it again now:

Thank you for changing my life.

Leonel Martinez's column appears every other Thursday. Readers may send comments or suggestions to lmartinez @bakersfield.com or leave a voice mail at 395-7631.