Hi! My name is William Yang. I grew up in New York City and my elementary school was PS 40. You might recognize my school if you watch the “The Wizards of Waverly Place” on the Disney channel where they show PS 40 in the opening sequence! My favorite memory of going to PS 40 was working with our Art teacher, Mr. Seymour. He divided the entire 4th grade into small groups and we worked on making clay tablets that displayed the story of a greek myth we were studying. We got to choose which myth we wanted to work on and my group chose the story of Odysseus and the Cyclops. I helped to make the clay Cyclops and worked with my classmates to tell the story together. The most exciting part was that all of our tablets were mounted and displayed all over the school that year. I thought they had taken it down the year after I graduated but was surprised to find it was still there on the wall of the school when I visited the school 20 years later!

My favorite elementary school teacher was my 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Schneider. She was tough yet fair, serious yet funny, and I always felt as if she was on my side. She would take us on many trips to museums, a sailing trip around the Statue of Liberty, and a week-long sleepover trip to a science camp in the country. I remember a time when she had us carve pumpkins in the fall. She made us pull out the seeds with our hands so we could roast them while we read about harvests and Halloween. I still remember the our hands being full of pumpkin “goo” and slimy feeling of pulling out seeds from pumpkins. Every time I eat pumpkin seeds, I think of Mrs. Schneider! When I became a teacher in the city, she ended up being my teacher again as she changed roles and became a teacher of teachers! I was so lucky to have Mrs. Schneider as my teacher—twice.

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