Remembering My Teachers

How are you today, my beloved reader? Hoping that you are feeling as bright and cheerful as I am, I thought it wise to share with you memories of some of the teachers who taught me on my schooling journey, right from primary school to university. Let me begin with Naru-Moru Primary School where I began my nursery school studies in 1993 and schooled till I was in Standard 7 in 2000.

My Naru-Moru teacher that I most fondly remember is Mr. Mureithi, a handsome and charismatic young man who taught us science in Standard 4 way back in 1997. He enjoyed taking us out in the fields during our science lessons held before lunch.

At the end of those lessons in the fields, Mr. Mureithi would gather us together and release us one by one for lunch by asking us questions. He would for instance ask us, "What is chlorophyll?" And the first pupil to answer the question right would be released for lunch.

Fortunately for me - and I thank God for this - I was among the brightest pupils in my class, so I was always among the first to be released. I wonder what used to happen to my dim-witted classmates.

In the year 2000, my parents transferred me to Kunoni Educational Centre where I finished off my primary school education. I was lucky to be taught by a more dedicated lot of teachers at Kunoni. Among them was Mr. Oketch who taught us math and science.

Mr. Oketch had a passion for the subjects that shone through in his lessons. And he sometimes digressed from academic stuff to regale us with stories from his life. We enjoyed his stories.

At Starehe Boys' Centre where I had my high school and college education, I was fortunate to be taught by devoted teachers, most of who I remember to this day. I will tell you of one, and that is is Mr. Martin Moore who I have mentioned in the caption of the photo above.

Mr. Moore often began his lessons with interesting fun facts that broadened our knowledge beyond the curriculum. But what made him unforgettable were the extra marks he awarded a student for answering questions well. If at the end of term the student happened to score more marks than required, Mr. Moore would truncate his score to 100%.

And finally at JKUAT where I matriculated in 2007 to pursue a degree in electronic & computer engineering, the teacher I most fondly remember was our Communication Skills lecturer named Prof. Paul Njoroge. His class was quite large as he taught more more than 300 students. But I captured his attention when I gave him Tony Buzan's The Speed Reading Book. After that, we became good friends.

My friendship with Prof. Njoroge led him to lend me four books, two of which I never returned. The books were John Marks' Science and the Making of the Modern World, Bill Clinton's memoir as well as biographies of Nelson Mandela and Joseph P. Kennedy (patriarch of the legendary Kennedy family).

That's me remembering some of my teachers. As I finish my story, let me leave you with this quote by the great inspirational figure and educationalist William Arthur Ward: "The mediocre teacher tells, the good teacher explains, the superior teacher demonstrates, the greater teacher inspires." Adieu!