CHARLOTTE – Most of us had a favorite teacher – one who made a difference in our lives.

Dean Ellen McIntyre of the Cato College of Education at UNC Charlotte talks about her favorites in the accompanying video, starting with her third-grade teacher.

“She was so fair.  I had had a previous teacher who was nice to some kids and mean to others … and then I got into third grade and I recognized that this was a teacher who was fair to everyone,” McIntyre says.

The education dean confesses that during a period in high school, she skipped school herself – yet she continued to go to her journalism class taught by Mrs. Linda Johnson.

“I loved writing and I loved the journalism teacher,” McIntyre says.

“I went for her.  And I went for her because she saw something in me – she recognized something in me that I had potential.  And I recognized that she recognized that, and I was willing to do anything for her.

“And that’s the kind of teacher we’re trying to recruit.”