Students thank their teachers

Friday, February 4, 2022

Annual Thank-a-Teacher program receives nearly 700 submissions

The Center for Teaching and Learning created the Thank-a-Teacher program 13 years ago to allow students an easy way to express gratitude to any UGA faculty and graduate student instructors who impacted their lives in profound and meaningful ways. Nearly 700 thank you notes were received this fall and were recently delivered to instructors following the conclusion of the Fall 2021 grading period.

Here’s a sample of the teachers thanked and what students shared:

Jessica Holt

Assistant Professor, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

“Thank you so much for an awesome semester! Yours was the first agriculture class I had ever taken at UGA and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Through projects, posters, and your entertaining presentations, I was inspired to research further the subjects I am interested in. Your class not only gave me an overview of the applications of agriculture, but also helped me to develop an interest in agricultural trade, specifically. I'm grateful for your understanding and for your investment in your students. I hope our paths cross again, maybe through research in the future. I will certainly recommend this class to my Ag friends.”

Kenneth Honerkamp

Professor, Franklin College of Arts & Sciences

“I wanted to say thank you for a great year. I don't think I can express into words how much I appreciate your kindness this past year with everything that has been going on. This year was particularly tough for me and I just wanted to say that you are one person that always made me feel better. The amount of care and kindness you show your students is amazing and everyone deserves to have a great teacher like you. Every time my friends ask me about my Arabic classes, I always say that I have the best professor ever and anyone would be grateful to learn from him. You impart so much wisdom to all your students and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to learn from you. Life is tough and having a teacher who understands the hardships of life is rare. Again, I am so grateful to have you as my teacher and I can't wait for our last semester together this upcoming fall. You are the best!”

Alberto Villate Isaza

Associate Professor, Franklin College of Arts & Sciences

“Coming into your classroom brought back my love of learning in ways that it had not been present before. I felt animated by our classroom discussions and excited to explore the texts you chose for us. Each time we began to go deeper into a piece, I remembered more and more why I love to read, why I love to write, and why I love literature. I truly rediscovered myself through this class after a really difficult year, and I want to say thank you. Your ability to generate a productive learning environment has given me exactly what I needed to love learning again. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Melissa Landers-Potts

Senior Lecturer, College of Family and Consumer Sciences

Photo taken pre 2020. 

“Thank you so much for being such a great professor! I looked forward to your class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and it makes me excited to continue taking HDFS classes in the future! I love hearing all your stories, and your passion for the topic is inspiring and intrigues me as well! Thank you!!”

Rob Nichols

Lecturer, Franklin College of Arts & Sciences

“I took your Anatomy 1 class a couple of semesters ago during peak COVID, but I wanted to thank you for still being one of the most thoughtful and knowledgeable teachers I have had at UGA. As a senior who is about to graduate this spring, I cannot thank you enough for the interest you have in your students and the subject that you teach. I always tell my friends how I "nerd out" when it comes to science, and you made the material in your anatomy course both interesting and fun to learn. 

I am still so thankful for the way you care for and respect your students. You had an entire zoom lecture one day where you took the time to talk to anyone interested in pre-med or pre-PA tracks. We talked for quite a while about whether I should stick with pre-PA or go into pre-med, and that conversation still makes me happy a year later. I will be applying to PA school this spring, but the possibility of med school is still in the back of my head. You truly have a great impact on your students.”

Michael Robinson

Associate Professor, School of Social Work

“Thank you, Dr. Robinson for the fantastic class. I learned so much about working with groups. It helped me realize that if I should work with the military, veterans, or even doing animal therapy, I could work with groups. It seems like a wonderful part of social work that could put together skills I have in psychology and social work skills. I also enjoyed hearing about your life and the things you have done, and are currently doing to enjoy your life and succeed. Thank you so much for all of the insight and for the great class.”

 

Juliet Sekandi

Assistant Professor, College of Public Health

“Thank you so much for teaching GLOB 7100 and allowing me to learn from you. The passion and desire that you have for global health and reducing inequities around the world for all people is truly admirable. Thank you for presenting and teaching on a wide array of topics, so that students like me can get a good base knowledge on the subject. I really appreciate how you were committed to teaching topics that each of us students were interested in and aligning the class to those interests. Thank you for being a positive light during a challenging time and always making me feel like I can make the world a better place.”

Morgan Taylor

Lecturer, Terry College of Business

“These past few semesters have been crazy - for both students and professors. Thank you for being the lighthouse in the storm, drawing us students back to in-person classes with a passion and enthusiasm that is unparalleled by any virtual lecture. From your engaging class discussions to the hours of applicable, meaningful homework review sessions, it is apparent that you are going above and beyond the call of duty as a professor.

Your consistently positive attitude and encouragement for students to push themselves above and beyond is contagious. I cannot count the number of days that I have been worn out headed into class or office hours but walked out with a positive attitude, looking forward to our next class or next exam because of the high-energy, positive, discussion-centered atmosphere you foster in every aspect of our learning.”