Melissa

College Student

I had Ms. Handshoe as an English teacher my sophomore and senior year of high school which was 2013 and 2016. She is by far the teacher who impacted me the most. I didn’t have it so good at home, so to me her classroom was my escape. She made English class so much fun and taught us so many valuable lessons. She most importantly taught us how to argue our opinions well. To know what exactly you’re trying to defend before you misinform someone else, and to have our own opinion instead of just following the crowd, which is something I preach to my husband about to this day.

I always went to visit my favorite teacher in the morning before class either to do work before the day started or to just talk to her about anything. She not only taught me how to write an essay or poem, but also impacted how I carry myself through life. Today I’m still in school while working full time hoping to one day become a teacher. My hope is to make at least one kid feel as powerful as Ms. Handshoe made me feel in her.

Trevor

U.S. Military

I was one of Ms. Handshoe’s Students during 10^th grade. When I first came in, I just thought it would be another English Class. Come in… complete assignments, then go to the next class.

However, as the year went on, I went from being the shy kid in class that no one knew, to the guy having more self-confidence then I knew what to do with. Ms. Handshoe believed in me when I didn’t even believe in myself.

When I first came to class I honestly thought I didn’t have a purpose in life and was just waiting for a day to take my final bow and leave the Earth. However, Ms. Handshoe saw through the heavy dark walls I surrounded myself with and showed me how to love myself with her out of the box teaching methods: teaching us to question ourselves, find out who we are, and using fun and creative methods to learn and grow from in school and as well in life as we go forward after graduation.

When I think back on who my teachers were, honestly Ms. Handshoe was the only teacher I can remember. Through her professionalism, kindness, and drive to motivate others, she helped me get out of the darkest spot in my life by helping me learn not just the material the schools pushed out, but she taught me life lessons on how to move forward when things are hard, while also staying positive and never giving up.

Because of you Ms. Handshoe, you helped me not become another HS suicide statistic.

Because of this, I am able to take the many lessons you have taught and apply them to my life and share my experiences to others, just like you helped me, so others too can love themselves and never give up.One of your warm up questions in class, as silly as it sounded, you asked “What would you be as a kitchen object, and why?” We all laughed. But then it really had me thinking. Because you, as a caring teacher toward us, was like a cup. And like a cup (metaphorically speaking), one can be filled with knowledge and pour that knowledge unto others, thus you—our teacher, being the most important appliance in the room, and I wanted to be like that when I grew up.

Like really, it’s been almost 7-8 years since we did that warm up and I still remember it. This is just one of many, many examples I can speak on.

And even as small as somethings seemed, you actually gave me the motivation to not only continue on, but to also help others so they do not feel what I went through. And to be there for them like you were for me when no one else was.

Since then I’ve graduated, and I am currently serving in the US Army as an 11B (Infantryman). Part of the reason I joined was I knew a lot of broken people in the service, so I wanted to be there for them like you were for me. And I can safely say I have helped many people overcome their hardships through the lessons you taught me in class.

Nora

I was an exchange student in 2019. I went from Norway to Texas, without knowing what was waiting on me. It became a life in a year. A year I will be grateful for my whole life. I knew no one when I first arrived, but I remember my first English class with Ms. Handshoe. I was so nervous this first day, but she took me aside and told me if I ever needed someone to talk to, I could just knock on her door. Her English class became my favorite class pretty fast. I have never really enjoined language-classes, but Ms. Handshoe taught us not just how to write proper English, but how to grow and become a better version of ourselves.

I just now graduated high school in Norway. And everything I learned in Ms. Handshoe’s class has given me an advantage here in Norway. Not only has my English skills improved, but also my writing. In my Norwegian classes my grade has improved magnificently, because Ms. Handshoe taught me the basics of writing, but more importantly, she taught me to be confident and to believe in my own words. Believe that I am good enough. Ms. Handshoe truly made my year in Texas better; she was my teacher, but also a person I could come and talk to whenever I felt alone, a thousand miles away from my home. Thank you for everything!

Lauren

Graduate of University of Texas at Austin

Career: Actuary

If you were to ask me, “which teacher prepared you most for your time at the University of Texas” it would be surprising to hear that my 8th grade English teacher (2005-2006) is the answer. Mrs. Handshoe went out of her way to connect with her students. I will never forget the lesson on irony analyzing the Alanis Morissette song “Ironic”.

If you were to ask me, “which teacher prepared you most for your time at the University of Texas” it would be surprising to hear that my 8th grade English teacher (2005-2006) is the answer. Mrs. Handshoe went out of her way to connect with her students. I will never forget the lesson on irony analyzing the Alanis Morissette song “Ironic”. Not only did Mrs. Handshoe show how much she cared about us by being involved in our lives, but also by holding us responsible for the quality of our work. 

Brooklyn

My journey with Ms. Handshoe began my senior year of high school. She had come into our classroom as a replacement for our previously horrible teacher that we all obviously loved (because she was a horrible teacher who blew off the entire lesson plan for the year).

Our journey began rough. None of us wanted to hear anything she had to say. In our eyes, she didn’t know what she was talking about, and we could have cared less about anything she asked us to do.

UNTIL one day I realized that everything had changed. I’m not sure exactly what it was that made us view her differently, but we did. We grew to absolutely adore her. She got on our asses and made us do the work required to graduate. SHE CARED. She cared that we were falling behind so badly. She cared that we lacked the information that should’ve been taught to us before. 

Ms. Handshoe worked her ass off to make sure we could catch up with the rest of our graduating class. This meant we had to work 10x harder than the rest of the students, but we got the job done.

I graduated with the Class of 2015 from Hendrickson High School and have been back to sit in on some of her classes. I loved being able to give my testimony to them and offer a helping hand to those who were scared of “real life” after high school.

Fast forward 5 years, I am now working in sales for a local Austin company specializing in ergonomics. I have two children that are simply amazing. My own place and my dream dog.

I can only hope that one day my son and daughter have a teacher as amazing, as driven, and as blunt as Ms. Handshoe.