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Michael Hatton: This evening's gathering for me is a very very special event. It's one of the best events of the year. It's an
event where we celebrate excellence in teaching and we celebrate education more generally and I would hope you
like me, feel proud to be associated with education and with teaching.
Athar Khan: I wrote an essay, it's called, for a contest called The Greatest High School Teacher Contest for Humber College
and the teacher I nominated for that contest was David Graham. He was my high school math teacher and he
had a phenomenal influence on me.
David Graham: You know we always talk about teachers influencing students but I think it's a two-way street.
And when I taught Athar in grade ten mathematics, the level of maturity that he displayed at such a young age
was extremely impressive.
Michelle Ramos: I checked my email and saw that I received a winning email from The Greatest High School Teacher Contest
and I couldn't believe it, read it again, told my mom, she was ecstatic, and told my dad and they were both very proud.
Personally, Mr. Gentile's the teacher that made me like school again. After having many many rough years from elementary
school up until the ninth grade, school had become a burden. Mr. Gentile, with his larger than life personality,
tactful teaching style and his love of life, students and learning changed my view for the better and is probably a main reason
why I've ended up in college instead of working for minimum wage.
Michael Gentile: I remember Michelle, she was an extremely quiet student, she was dedicated, she did well in my classes
but it's one of those things in teaching where you don't always realize what kind of an impact you have on another
person. Some are much more open about it, others you touch and in many ways you enhance their lives but in a very quiet and
personal way.
Trevor Speechly: You want to be able to kind of leave your mark before you go and with Mr. Serravelle passing away
he really left a good mark on all of the students and he left a positive influence on everybody and that's something
I think he kind of imparted to me was that I can also do the same as well as any student that he had taught.
Athar Khan: Inspiration is something that can always stay with you and propel you forward towards reaching your dreams
I truly believe that and you know for someone who has been through the hard times and good, as I'm sure all of us have,
we know that a little bit of inspiration can go a long way. Thank you so much.