Teachers have the privilege of assisting every student to their full potential. Teachers are some of the most influential characters in a child’s life. This theme is portrayed in two similar short stories: “Long, Long After School” written by Ernest Buckler and “A Teacher’s Rewards” which is written by Robert Phillips. “Long, Long After School” is a short story about a man, standing at one of his teachers’ grave, reflecting on his experiences from elementary school and the teacher who always defended him when others were discriminant. Similarly, the story “A Teacher’s Reward” is about a student who was negatively impacted by his teacher, Miss Scofield, and realizes, as his older self, the influence she had on his life and he wanted to make sure that she understood the severity in what she did by taking similar actions. Teachers are key influencers in young lives and they can bring a positive or negative impact on kids, they can set expectations on students which they tend to live up to and can create pivotal moments in someone’s memory forever.

The schooling years are the nurturing and development stage in which children require a safe learning environment that will hopefully leave them with a good impact. Teachers play a large role in this because however they treat their students, will be reoccurring in their heads forever. On one hand, Miss Tretheway was very supporting and defensive around her students, and especially when it came to Wes, who was discriminated because of his race. Being surrounded by mean, racist kids made it very easy for Wes to remember all of these depraved experiences, but it also helped define the good ones, such as his time spent with Miss Tretheway. Wes truly respected her for all that she did for him. As he was at her grave, alone, he left a “corsage of simple flowers” which were symbolic of Wes’ thankfulness and trust in his teacher and her support (Buckler 48). Miss Tretheway played a very special role in Wes’ life because she was the one to stand up for him in his toughest moments. On the other hand, Miss Scofield assumed that Raybe was a naughty kid because of his appearance. These experiences left Raybe with nothing but harsh memories and expectations that this is who he is. Miss Scofield thought that Raybe wrote on the supply closet walls and “[she] whacked [his] knuckles good, but [he] didn’t write those words” and it was actually one her favourite students (Phillips 386). Raybe was treated terribly for actions that were not deserved. His teacher assumed it was him out of just who she believed who did it. For the rest of his life, this expectation stuck with him which made him believe that he deserved to endure pain and continue life as a trouble-maker. Depending on how these teachers treated their students, they defined a piece of heart and soul in the boys that will always be lived up to.

Teachers tend to make primary assumptions as soon as a student walks through the doors on the first day of school. With these assumptions, they set expectations in which children tend to live up to either in a good way, like Wes, or poorly, like Raybe. In some cases these assumption can me more perceived as realizations like how Miss Tretheway realized that Wes was a kind boy, but was isolated due to his surroundings and race. She felt the need to support Wes when witnessing the kids being racist and even donated him blood when he was severely injured. At one point in the story, Wes was delivering a basket of clothes to someone on a sled and when it got knocked over, “Miss Tretheway came along and [everyone else] ran” (Buckler 50). Miss Tretheway was very kind and was an ally to Wes, which he appreciated, and is also a reason why he is still as an older man. In Wes’ future he remembered all of Miss Tretheway’s supporting actions to defend him and it is likely that he grew up as an honest and warm-hearted man who would understand the emotions evolving around others being discriminated as well. Even though he was bullied about his race, what he remembers from school is the kind deeds taken by his teacher. If nobody stood up for him, then he might have just ended up like Raybe. In contrast to Miss Tretheway, Miss Scofield was nothing but nasty to Raybe; bullying him and rapping his knuckles for things he didn’t deserve, only to turn this boy wild and sending him to prison. These hurtful events that happened in grade 3, were the ones that inspired Raybe to be the bad guy because that’s just “who he is” and this mind-set eventually brings him to prison. As Miss Scofield tried to reason for her actions as to why he went to prison, she explained, “I’m sure there were… circumstances… leading up to that” (Phillips 385). Robert Phillips is trying to define how these “circumstances” are actually just Miss Scofield’s false actions of punishment on Raybe that may have steered him in the direction of living on the unfortunate side of reality and into prison. The lasting impact that these teachers left Raybe and Wes with was almost what defined their future; sending one to prison and leaving the other with gratitude becoming an honorable man.

Students often reflect on their past experiences and are likely to think back to difficult situations in life. Teachers can be the tilting factor in how students reflect and act on these pivotal moments in life. Miss Tretheway forced the good side of Wes to come out and carrying on through all the negatives in his life such as the racism and bullying. This carried out in Wes’ life as he realized the unseen side of Miss Tretheway as she did for him back in grade three. Near the end of the story, it was evident how Wes became a more confident individual when he was able to say, “’Miss Tretheway, you’re making me blush” and “able to say that, and laugh, myself” (Buckler 52). Wes has never forgotten how “beautiful” she was and will never forget the inspiring impact she had on his life (Buckler 52). As a matured man, Wes has likely experienced much more discrimination and proceeded in life through these moments knowing that he has been through it all before. In “A Teacher’s Reward”, Raybe recognized how his teacher treated him like a trouble-maker instead of inspiring him to reach his full potential. Knowing that Raybe went to prison, he obviously made a few bad choices which were driven by his teacher’s pre-conceived notions of him. When Miss Scofield claimed that, “[She} knew just who needed strict discipline in [her] class”, she judged him based on his appearance and believed that he deserved to be treated poorly (386 Phillips). Since Raybe truly believed that he should take all the blame and not fight for otherwise, he continues in these ways as he went to prison for ten years. As a teacher, they should treat their students like children and give them habits that will keep them out of trouble when taking on difficult encounters in life.

Young children can be easily influenced by others (including teachers), they will take similar steps in life by making similar decisions, and when making choices as a grown up, they will reflect back on pivotal experiences and continue in the way how society treated them. In the story “Long, Long After School”, Wes was so grateful for having a supporting teacher who would help stand up to bullying and was even willing enough to give blood to her student when he punched the window. Wes turned out an ordinary man, just like his teacher, who lived reflecting on the good aspects from his life, forgetting about all of the tragedies and pursuing life as a more compassionate and confident male. In “A Teachers Reward”, Raybe was bullied by his teacher and just had to live through his school years being physically hurt by someone who misunderstood his identity due to stereotyping him as a poor trouble-maker. Raybe grew up, was sent to prison, and when he reflected on his life, he realized he was shown to believe that he was the bad kid and nothing else according to his teachers actions. It is extraordinary how these influencers who seem to have the littlest portion of importance in someone’s life, can, in reality, shape what society expects of someone and ultimately change the path of their life.