Angela Kinsey Is Still Thankful For Her Favorite High School English Teacher
The Office actress Angela Kinsey has a soft spot for teachers. In fact, her high school English teacher left such an impression on her that to this day, Kinsey feels an immense amount gratitude for her.
"I think we all have a teacher in our life like that," Kinsey tells Woman's Day. "For me, hands down, it was Mrs. Campbell. I really felt like she made me believe in myself, and she built up my self-esteem in my writing." Kinsey says that Mrs. Campbell told her class that everyone has a story to tell, and yours is just as important as anyone else's. "I carried that with me all the way through college," she says.
After completing a creative writing class during her sophomore year of college — which Kinsey felt prepared for thanks to Mrs. Campbell and her dedicated teaching — she decided to write her former teacher a letter to express her thanks. "I had just seen Dead Poets Society, and I addressed it to her 'O Captain My Captain,' because I'm so cheesy," she says. "But she really meant the world to me."
A post shared by Angela Kinsey (@angelakinsey) on Mar 9, 2020 at 11:23am PDT
Between her own positive experience with educators, watching her sister Janet's 28-year career as a teacher unfold, and witnessing the hard work of a number of educators as they helped her three children transition to at-home e-learning when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, it's easy to see why Kinsey has a deep appreciation for teachers. It's also why she has partnered with Staples for its Thank a Teacher contest, which will award 20 deserving teachers across the country $5,000 from Staples to stock their classrooms for the upcoming school year. (Funding which is highly needed as historically 94 percent of teachers use their own money to buy classroom supplies, according to the National Center of Education Statistics.)
"I really believe a teacher can have a lifelong impact," Kinsey says.
As for the letter, well, like the teapot letter Jim Halpert gave to Pam Beesly, Mrs. Campbell saved it. "One of her students told me she saved that letter and she has read it to all her classes," Kinsey says, adding that she's visited Mrs. Campbell and her classes multiple times since graduating.
If you have your own Mrs. Campbell in your life, you can nominate a teacher you're thankful for by tagging @StaplesStores and using #ThankaTeacher and #contest to share a photo, video, or story on Instagram or Twitter.
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