Rostov figures honor their teachers

On 5 October, Russian educators traditionally receive congratulations as the country celebrates Teachers’ Day. 161.RU asked well-known residents of Rostov-on-Don about their school years and their first and favorite teachers.

Andrey Fateyev, deputy governor of the Rostov Region for education, culture and protection of cultural heritage sites (objects of cultural heritage — OKN)

I remember my school years with special warmth. It was a time when we were, on the one hand, carefree, and on the other — receiving our first important knowledge and skills that we would later need in adult life. I gladly visit my school whenever I have the chance.

I had many favorite teachers and, sadly, many of them are no longer with us. Yet their wise guidance remains with me to this day. It was my teachers who influenced my career choice, and I am very glad that for two decades now my professional life has been inextricably linked with the education system. It is the most resilient system and a big family — the teachers of the Don region, whom I congratulate from the bottom of my heart on their professional holiday and wish good health, grateful students, and understanding parents. I am proud that, together with the large corps of Don teachers, I am part of the efforts to develop the system of education and upbringing.

Yekaterina Stenyakina, deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation (Gosudarstvennaya duma — State Duma) from the Rostov Region

I was very lucky: I had very good teachers and educators. My classmates and I still meet twice a year — in February and in the summer — and we remember our teachers; we stay in touch with many of them. We still remember everyone by last name, first name, and patronymic.

I would like to tell you about two of our teachers. The first is Tatyana Nikolayevna Ryabchuk, our Russian language and literature teacher. She was our homeroom teacher from the 5th through the 11th grade. Today, Tatyana Nikolayevna works as a teacher at a school in Novocherkassk (Rostov Region, near Rostov-on-Don). She is probably the best language-and-literature teacher — I can’t call it anything else — who instilled in us a love for Russian literature. Everyone in our class read «The Master and Margarita» and «War and Peace». I had a particular love for «A Hero of Our Time». All this was thanks to Tatyana Nikolayevna.

We wrote essays, discussed the trials that befell our heroes, and how they agonized over their choices. I remember we devoted a lot of time to Dostoevsky’s works, especially «Crime and Punishment». I still remember our discussions about Sonechka Marmeladova and her difficult fate. Tatyana Nikolayevna was a very young teacher when she got us in the fifth grade. She taught us, I think rightly, through literature and through her own example, sound life principles. And it seems to me that largely thanks to her efforts our class has not fallen apart to this day, and we maintain very warm, friendly relations.

The second person who also greatly influenced my worldview and, possibly, my choice of life path and profession — is Pyotr Afanasyevich Ushakov, our history teacher. We had unique history lessons; in a single class you could receive several grades, and they even entered sixes in the gradebook. We debated, learned to formulate questions, give concise definitions, and drew maps on the board. In the 1990s, when the education system survived largely on teachers’ initiative, Pyotr Afanasyevich personally developed extensive workbooks that we studied from. It was very interesting and very creative. Today, Pyotr Afanasyevich continues teaching; he works at a school in the rural Oktyabrsky District (Rostov Region).

I am very proud of my teachers. And when I visit the school, I always tell current students that they are very lucky with their teachers. It’s striking that a great contribution to my life and formation was made by humanities teachers, even though I always studied mathematics, loved it, loved the exact sciences, and my higher education is precisely in the exact sciences and mathematics. But knowledge of history and literature is also very valuable, and I thank my teachers for teaching me that.

Aleksan Mkrtchyan, vice president of the Alyans turisticheskikh agentstv Rossii — Alliance of Travel Agencies of Russia, and CEO of the Rozovy slon — Pink Elephant travel agency network

I studied at Rostov School No. 45 (today it is MBOU — Municipal Budgetary General Education Institution — «Gymnasium No. 45». — Ed. note.). It was the only school in the Rostov Region where, at that time, French was introduced from the second grade. It was taught to us by Jean Nikolayevich German. His actual surname was Germain, but after transcription into Russian it came to sound differently.

Jean Nikolayevich was born in northern France, in the city of Lille; he was the son of political émigrés — communists who moved to the Soviet Union. I began learning the basics of French at the age of nine. Jean Nikolayevich worked on our pronunciation — mine and my classmates’ — and taught us for several years. He did it wonderfully.

I work in tourism and have traveled a lot around the world. Decades later I found myself in the city of Narbonne — the deep south of France, near the border with Spain. The city has an old cathedral from the 16th–17th centuries. At that time it was closed for restoration. I managed to meet the caretaker and persuade him to show us this architectural monument. He agreed to do it for a bottle of wine. We climbed up the scaffolding and examined the wall paintings. I spoke freely with the caretaker in French, while simultaneously translating into Russian for my friends and family who were traveling with me. At the end of this unusual tour, the caretaker remarked that I spoke with a northern French dialect. A resident of southern France caught it very clearly. And I had studied the language back in the 1970s!

Jean Nikolayevich is no longer alive, but I know many graduates of our school followed in his footsteps — they entered teachers’ colleges to study French. These people have wonderful pronunciation thanks to our teacher. In essence, Jean Nikolayevich was the only native speaker of French in Rostov in those years. Many remember this teacher with gratitude. That’s the story.

Yuri Alekseyevsky, vice president of the Torgovo-promyshlennaya palata Rostovskoi oblasti — Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Rostov Region

I studied in Ulan-Ude (Republic of Buryatia, Russia). My first teacher was Yefrossiya Nikolayevna Semyonova. I always remember her warmly and recall her full name… I might not remember other teachers from the 7th–8th grades, but everyone probably remembers their first teacher. After all, the first teacher is the person who opened the world to you and initiated you into the mystery of knowledge. She taught us to write, count, and read…

I grew up and studied in an international class: Buryats and Russians — in equal numbers. We lived in harmony, and nationalism was foreign to us. No conflicts. No one mocked anyone. We idolized our teacher.

We wrote with dip pens, from inkwells, and learned calligraphic handwriting. Of course, my handwriting deteriorated later, when ballpoint pens came into wide use, around the ninth grade. Back then we wrote with pressure… The line was wide in places and narrow in others. Calligraphy almost from childhood. Even now, if I try, I can restore that handwriting. It’s etched in my memory: inkwells carried in little bags so they wouldn’t spill… We bought nibs — it was 1966. Desks had special holes for inkwells.

I wouldn’t say she was strict. She was kind, but we obeyed without question because we were very small. No one acted up; we tried to complete every assignment and raised our hands if we knew the answer. Calm and authoritative, she was obeyed without question. She led us into a new world, and we treated her assignments responsibly. Very warm memories… Of course, she is surely no longer with us — may she rest in peace… But we remember her. And that is probably the main thing.

Natalya Oskina, deputy of the Gorodskaya duma Rostova-na-Donu — Rostov-on-Don City Duma, from the Kommunisticheskaya partiya Rossiiskoi Federatsii — Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF)

I recall with great respect not only my school years but also my years at Music School No. 1 in the city of Volgodonsk (Rostov Region, Russia). I had a wonderful teacher who instilled in me a deep love of music — not only classical, but also jazz and pop. She helped me master the basics of piano playing and take part in ensembles and groups — a rarity at the time. I was a prizewinner and winner of many youth competitions. I earned certificates, prizes, medals. I won the Shostakovich competition in my time.

This teacher was cultured, educated, and highly intellectual. She knew art, music, and sports. She was well-read, an intelligent woman, and only 15 years older than me. When I entered music school, I was six years old, and she was 21–22. A young woman with whom I walked hand in hand for 11 years.

I studied in the preparatory group, then seven grades of standard music school. In the eighth grade I thought I would apply to music college and then to the conservatory. But the 1980s–1990s began. After graduating from music school in the seventh grade, I continued attending for another four years, polishing my piano skills.

This teacher’s name was Larisa Viktorovna Semina. She died after a massive stroke. I think many students of Volgodonsk Music School and her colleagues will remember this wonderful woman with great warmth and love — a wise, competent teacher. She enriched me spiritually, taught me to empathize, and instilled a love of reading. This is my brightest school memory.

Svetlana Kambulova, head of Taganrog (Rostov Region)

I remember my school years fondly. I had excellent classmates, and we still keep in touch — I remain friends with many to this day. We were very lucky with our homeroom teacher: she is a teacher by vocation!

I love, respect, and always remember with gratitude Albina Ivanovna Grebenyuk. Kind, fair, and caring — that is how I would describe my teacher.

I cherish warm memories of our friendly class events, which everyone prepared for and took part in: trips during school holidays to different corners of our vast country, hikes, school discos, sports festivals, and subbotniks — volunteer clean-up days.

And it was always our extraordinary Albina Ivanovna who united us, taught us to work, to think, and to be creative people. On behalf of all my classmates and myself, I wish her health and many years of life.