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“It’s important to take the time to color inside the lines.”

“12 x 12 = 144″

“The Treaties of Westphalia heralded the era of the nation state in Europe.”

“An adverb describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.”

“Do your best; nobody can ask for more than that.”

“The First Law of Thermodynamics is you do not talk about Thermodynamics.”

Think about it: there was a specific point in time when you learned each of these things. (I double checked all but the last one, but it sounds right.) We learned these things, and we did it through the persistence and patience of great teachers, at home or in the classroom.

Whether your formal education is ongoing — hey, young readers! — or ended 50 years ago, there is never a bad time to reflect on the people who chose teaching for their career. It is a demanding and often thankless job, and we at MakerBot want teachers to know they are always on our minds.

If you are a MakerBot owner, you have the chance to give the teachers in your life a special gift. It could be a customized nameplate, a desk organizer, or the old standby, an apple.

I made an apple yesterday on my Replicator and brought it around to some of the people here at MakerBot. These are people in our company who come from lots of different backgrounds, and I was personally curious to know which teachers inspired them and got them here. Here are their answers.

Adam, Co-Founder and CTO
Is there one teacher you remember fondly?
Mrs. Wolff, physics teacher.

What was one thing that person taught you that stuck?
That there’s no luminiferous ether.

What would you say to that teacher if you had a chance?
Why the hell wasn’t that part of the basic curriculum?

Jeanene, Head of Operations
Is there one teacher you remember fondly?
My favorite teacher has to be Father Art Wheeler from the University of Portland. He was not only my favorite history professor, he was also my favorite beer buddy. I went to a small school, where some of the teachers lived on campus and in the student dorms, so we had the opportunity to know them beyond the classroom. Father Art was wise beyond having an encyclopedic historical mind; he also had many memories from his extensive travels.

What was one thing that person taught you that stuck?
The one thing that stuck with me were histories of traveling to Asia and all that he had seen and experienced there. It stuck because I went to live in Japan and work for a year after college. I learned some of his stories were true and some had been a little “embellished.” The lesson was get outside of your comfort zone and do something different!

What would you say to that teacher if you had a chance?
If there was one thing I would give Father Art, it would be a heart within a globe.

Far, Director of Software
Is there one teacher you remember fondly?
A shoe-in: Physics Prof Robert Pompi of Binghamton U. Greatest. Physics 131 Evar.

What was one thing that person taught you that stuck?
He taught me that those crazy equations we had to memorize *meant* something, in a way I had never learned before.   That there is a lot of meaning embedded in those small equations, and when you know how to use them, that meaning is uncovered in excellent and amazing ways.  He was great at also teaching folks that being a good person was as important as being an excellent scientist.

What would you say to that teacher if you had a chance?
Prof. Pompi, thanks for making time for undergrads, and treating us as intelligent, learning humans.  You spent a lot of time teaching green undergrads how to think, rather than on research. We still swap stories about you when we hang out, you made a lot of fans, and made a lot of people smarter, and more thoughtful.  Also, I appreciate now how you were a bit of a bike nerd.  I didn’t get it back then, but I totally dig the simplicity and elegance of bikes now.

Keith, Events Manager
Is there one teacher you remember fondly?
Margaret Lopez, my 5th Grade Teacher at Nut Swamp School.  At 70 years old this was her final year teaching.  She was an amazing, energetic person who had just won first place in the “70 and over” category in the New York City Marathon.  She had an amazing spirit and wasn’t afraid to do things her own way.

What was one thing that person taught you that stuck?
There was a wooded area behind our grammar school.  A path led to a cleared area that served as an “outdoor classroom.”  We spent most of our days outside in the woods, learning about plants, trees and wildlife.  I had never experienced education this way before and realized this was very special.  It felt like summer camp and school at the same time.  I’ll never forget this.

What would you say to that teacher if you had a chance?
Thank you for teaching me to explore my world and to be creative in my work.  I am looking forward to completing my first New York City Marathon when I turn 70!

Charles, Director of Research & Development
Is there one teacher you remember fondly?
I was never a student of Doc Hersh (Dr. Bennett Hershfield), but several of my friends were. Sometimes after school we would hang out in the lab for a bit when someone had to talk to him. We would sometimes chat about experiments I thought of. His typical response would be either an in-depth explanation or simply, “I don’t know, you should try it.”

What was one thing that person taught you that stuck?
Doc encouraged me to experiment. He even let me borrow a section of his classroom to run a few throughout the year. There was no formal arrangement, no lab reports, and no grades. I really appreciated the freedom to do pretty much whatever I wanted.

That experience taught me there are fewer rules than one thinks. I took advantage of this in college by approaching professors who were doing interesting research and asking if I could help. nobody ever
said “no,” which is surprising because I was just knocking on office doors in the restricted part of the physics building.

What would you say to that teacher if you had a chance?
Thanks, Doc.

John, Head of Applications
Is there one teacher you remember fondly?
It’s hard to choose, but ONE of the teachers I remember most fondly is Mrs. Marketos, my 9th Grade English Literature teacher. She’s a dedicated educator who is completely no nonsense and doesn’t tolerate monster 9th grader antics – but she taught me that it was quite possible to make her smile by being attentive to our readings and clever in conversation.
What would you say to that teacher if you had a chance?
Mrs. Marketos – I’m still trying to make teachers smile whenever I can (with MakerBots)!

Michael, Design Superstar
Is there one teacher you remember fondly?
David Dowell and Matt Estes, at Randolph School in Huntsville, Alabama
What was one thing that person taught you that stuck?
Be the best at what you do.  But never take yourself too seriously.

What would you say to that teacher if you had a chance?
Keep class unusual, keep the students laughing.  The things they laugh about are the things they will remember 10 years later.

Jenny, Head of People
Is there one teacher you remember fondly?
When I was a kid, I moved a lot. I moved maybe 15 times before I was 8 and then I moved to England twice between 7th and 12th grade. I went to two first grades and then to 7th and half of 11th grade in England.

Both of my parents are teachers – my mom teaches Marriage in the Family and Sociology and my father has a PhD in Middle Eastern History and teaches a lot of different history and current events classes. They both teach at community colleges. So, teachers have always been a part of my world.

My parents gave me the love of learning. I used to drive my mom nuts because I was always maxing out the library lending limit and always needed more books to read. So, my fondest memories of teachers are my parents – and parents are the ultimate teachers, really.

I have mixed memories of teachers – one is a high school math teacher who let me know that, because I was a girl, that I was sure to fail Geometry. He made me so angry that I got A’s in his class and then went on to graduate from college with a BS in Applied Mathematics. My very favorite teacher, ever, was my 3rd grade teacher. Mrs. Hintenlang. I was always Citizen of the Week and when I finished my work early (I’m of the “individualized learning” era of education) I was always allowed to do more different and interesting things. She let us be curious, came up with ways for us to keep our active minds engaged and used kind and thoughtful words with us. We had such fun and grew and learned so much.

More recently, I’ve been truly inspired by my rowing coaches. I learned to row about 6 years ago and have become a competitive rower – if it weren’t for my coaches, I wouldn’t have the tangle of gold medals that are hanging in my house.