During my sophomore year, I followed my sister, Hannah around. The following tended to lead me to room 211. I watched my sister and her friends hunker down to do their test corrections as I sat and watched how Mrs. Dauve interacted with her students. From a bird’s eye view, I saw the effort Mrs. Dauve put into every one of her students, giving them her time outside of class whenever they needed. I sat in my chair banished from my sister’s table waiting for the day I could finally be a calculus student.

I have finally gotten to my senior year, and calculus is one of my favorite classes like I thought it would be. My love for calculus doesn’t come from a secret love of integrals, derivatives, and limits. My love and passion for learning calculus came from the environment Mrs. Dauve creates in her classroom. On our tests, she asks us a question about ourselves and will talk to us about it. On Pi Day she bought us snacks. On Fridays, she’d play music we said we liked. Mrs. Dauve takes the time to not only learn about who we are as students, but who we are as people. 

Mrs. Dauve is a teacher I know I could go to if I needed anything. I am so grateful for everything she does to prepare us for the AP test and all the time she takes out of her own time to support us. Mrs. Dauve is one of the most stylish, sweet, smart person I know and I am so grateful I had the privilege of getting to sit in room 211; I will never forget it.

-Emme Bernard

Hi Mrs. Dauve,

There is no teacher more passionate than you. You are willing to spend hours after school to help only a few students. You stay excited when teaching even though sometimes I bet you may not be up to it, but you don’t let that stop you, and it’s like you’re happy all the time. Your love and drive to see your students learn, not only improve but truly learn, is unmatched. And this makes me so grateful and joyful to be your student! Calculus can be really fun when you can admire all of the beautiful and perfect logic throughout, however it can also be very boring if taught wrong. But you make it so fun! 

Teacher appreciation week has given me reason to write a letter expressing my gratitude and admiration for you as a teacher, and I’m glad for it. Personally, there should be more weeks dedicated to this. Many teachers around FHC deserve praise and appreciation because they earn their respect through their love and drive to make everyone understand. Not just a few students, everyone. All. 

If someone is confused, you will backtrack and follow their logic to arrive to the same correct conclusion, and this process can be entertaining and beneficial to the students who already understand the concept because different perspectives leading to the same unwavering truth is almost like listening to music, it’s different every time and can be so moving. Math can be this way too, and your teaching evokes these feelings of math!

You embody these inspiring qualities more so than most because your passion and happiness stands out. You are awesome! (In case that wasn’t clear enough already :D). 

But your passion does not stop with math. No. You even are interested to discuss other ideas, events, and issues with your students because of your desire to connect with them. And this to me seems like the source of your joy and love for teaching- your students. I am so glad to be an audience member of your teaching willing to learn while you explain in a thorough awe-inspiring way and best of all connect with your students. Many don’t understand how teachers find their passion beyond the love of their material, but it is clear your students are your top priority. Your attitude and love for teaching is inspiring to others who seek such a career or life path that will bring them even half as much joy as being a teacher brings you. Thank you, again. Seriously, you don’t know how much this means to me and your other students. To have such an influential figure at this point in our lives will forever affect the minds and hearts of your students in whatever facets they explore in life. It is teachers like you that inspire those to follow their dreams.

So thanks again for being such an integral part of my journey to accumulate raw knowledge in the logical beauty of life. Forever will I differentiate myself from who I was before your class to a person now more connected to the beautiful logic of math and washers and disks of life. Thank you Mrs. Dauve. And shout out to Rosie!

-Colin Nichols