Celebrities Who Have Gushed About the Teachers Who Inspired Them
Teachers are the unbelievably unsung (and criminally underpaid) heroes of the world. And though they should be celebrated every day, we’re giving them an extra round of applause this week. This week — May 6-10, 2024 — is Teacher Appreciation Week, and it’s the perfect time to show your child’s teacher (or an educator from your childhood!) how much you care. Because teachers have the power to change a child’s outlook and trajectory in a way that few other adults can. And having a teacher that truly sees you and connects with you is invaluable.
A gift is always appreciated (HERE is how to shop for educators), but a heartfelt message is a memorable and appreciative way to let your favorite teacher know their hard work has paid off; that no matter how thankless their job may sometimes seem, they have indeed made a difference. It means so much for teachers to be recognized for the life-changing work that they do. Especially during Teacher Appreciation Week — and especially when that happens on a global stage! And so we are tipping our hats to celebrities who also have an extra-special teacher in their life … and are not afraid to get teary-eyed and thank those educators publicly.
Below, we’ve compiled a list of celebrities — Grammy winners, Emmy winners, politicians, and more — who have publicly shouted out those teachers who saw them, cared for them, and ultimately had a hand in shaping who they are today.
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Harry Styles
During an especially moving concert, Harry Styles asked the audience for “a favor.”
“I’d like to try and find someone in the audience,” he said. “So, we’re going to get really quiet and I’m going to see if I can locate this person … my first ever school teacher is here tonight. Her name’s Mrs. Vernon, and I believe she is in the crowd.”
When the Grammy winner finally located her, he dropped to his knees. “I’d just like to thank you for everything in those formative years and, yeah, thank you so much,” he said. “It means a lot to me that you’re here tonight.”
He went on to dedicate his song “Canyon Moon” to “her.” Unfortunately, it was not Vernon who was at the show but a coworker from the same school. Vernon told the BBC she was “very emotional” when she heard about the shoutout.
“It was very touching, very lovely thing for him to do and it was very special,” she shared. “I do say thank you to him for doing that and for saying those things, it meant a lot.”
John Legend
In a guest essay for HuffPost, singer-songwriter John Legend gave credit to his English teacher, Mrs. Bodey, for recognizing his talent before he did.
“My English teacher, Mrs. Bodey, was instrumental in the educational journey that carried me through school and into my career,” Legend wrote. “Until her class, I hadn’t believed in my ability as a writer. She recognized my potential and showed me that I could write with creativity, with clarity, with passion.”
Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish gave her former choir teacher the ultimate shoutout — in her Oscar acceptance speech! As she and her brother Finneas accepted their award for Best Original Song at the 2024 Oscars, Eilish said, “Ms. Brigham, thanks for believing in me.”
The Ms. Brigham in question was now-retired teacher Mandy Brigham, who told The Hollywood Reporter she was “flabbergasted” by the high-profile mention. “I never expected anything like that would ever happen to me,” she said. “That’s the ultimate compliment for a teacher.”
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is a well-known champion of education — but if it weren’t for her fourth-grade teacher at Wharton Elementary in Nashville, Mary Duncan, Winfrey might not be in the position to do all the philanthropic work she does. In 1989, Winfrey had Mrs. Duncan as a guest on her talk show.
“I always, because of you, felt I could take on the world,” Winfrey told her. “You did exactly what teachers are supposed to do, they create a spark for learning that lives with you from then on. It’s why I have a talk show today.”
Paul Giamatti
During his Golden Globes win for “best performance by an actor in a motion picture” for The Holdovers, in which he plays a teacher, actor Paul Giamatti gave credit to not just one teacher, but the entire profession in general — dedicating his award to educators everywhere.
“It’s a movie about a teacher. I play a teacher in it. My whole family, they are teachers. All of them, going back generations,” Giamatti said during his speech. “Teachers are good people. We’ve got to respect them. They do a good thing. It’s a tough job. So this is for teachers.”
Quinta Brunson
Quinta Brunson has taken teacher appreciation to a new level. After all, she named her Emmy-winning show, Abbott Elementary, after her 6th grade teacher, Joyce Abbott.
In a 2022 episode of his show, Jimmy Kimmel reconnected Brunson and her teacher, and the actress’s emotional reaction was worth a thousand words.
Abbott retired in 2023 and the School District of Philadelphia declared Sept. 26 “Joyce Abbott Day” in her honor. “While the show is fictional, the impact you have had on Philadelphia is very real,” Mallory Fix-Lopez, the vice president of Philadelphia’s Board of Education, said at a ceremony honoring the esteemed educator.
Halle Berry
On a 2023 episode of Goop Podcast, Halle Berry told Gwyneth Paltrow about the incredibly special relationship she has with Yvonne Sims — the educator who “followed” her from fifth grade through high school.
They became so close, that Sims is godmother to Berry’s kids, Maceo-Robert and Nahla.
“Now that we’re still in each other’s lives, I said to her one day, ‘Isn’t it interesting that just happened [that you got a job in my middle school and then my high school]? That that was fate, like serendipity?’” Berry said. “She was like, ‘You think that just happened by mistake? I was following you all these years because I knew you needed me.’”
In 2022, Berry wrote a Mother’s Day Instagram post for Sims. “[Today] I also reflect on what it means to receive love from a mother and sometimes that love comes from ‘another mother.’ Yvonne Sims has been my ‘Other Mother’ since she was my 5th grade teacher. Without her guidance, wisdom, patience and most importantly, her UNCONDITIONAL love for me in all the stages of my life, I’m not so sure I’d still be here. I love you, Yvonne Sims with all my heart!”
America Ferrera
Golden Globe winner America Ferrera said she loves her high school drama teacher to death during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
“[Mrs. Freitag who is in the audience] was one of my two drama teachers in high school, and we spent a lot of lunchtimes eating in the drama room together because I was super popular and cool and had lots of friends, and that’s why I chose to,” Ferrera joked. “And she was a lifeline.”
Stephen Colbert
In 2016, TV show host Stephen Colbert visited his “all-time favorite teacher” — his 4th grade teacher, Ms. Katsos.
“Everybody has one teacher that means more to them than anyone in their childhood, and you were it for me,” he told her in a heartwarming segment.
Jeannie Mai Jenkins
TV host Jeannie Mai Jenkins was so moved by Mr. Hunter — a teacher whom she could have easily resented after he said she was “not going to make it in life” if she continued without character and integrity — that she enrolled in his class.
“You are so much greater than you think you are,” he told her on a day that she was struggling to run the mile he made his students run before class. “… Start thinking of yourself as the best person in the classroom. The best. Let’s just see what happens. Will you do that for me? Just for the next week.”
You know what happened? Well, that 14-minute mile took her just 6 minutes and 42 seconds.
Adrienne Bailon
Adrienne Bailon gave the most heartfelt thank you to her children’s choir director, Ms. Nereida Rosario, on an episode of The Real.
“When I was little, I think I was really misunderstood,” The Cheetah Girls alum said. “I was rambunctious and crazy and you took me under your wing and you made me feel normal and I appreciate that.”
“..To this day, I think of you,” she continued, bringing her co-hosts to tears. “… I genuinely thank you for being a phenomenal role model, for representing Latinas … I can’t thank you enough. And for making loving God look cool.”
Adele
Here’s another tear-jerker! At a 2021 ITV concert special, Adele took a question from actress Emma Thompson who asked if there was someone in the Grammy winner’s past who “supported her, inspired her, or protected her” from the trials and tribulations of life.
Without hesitation, Adele said it was Ms. McDonald, her middle school English teacher who instilled in her a love of literature.
“She was so bloody cool. So engaging,” Adele said. “…She really made us care, and we knew that she cared about us.”
Thompson then revealed that the “bloody cool” former educator — whom Adele hadn’t seen in decades — was actually in the audience.
Ms. McDonald joined Adele on stage for a teary reunion where the “Rolling in the Deep” singer said, “You really changed my life.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Lin-Manuel Miranda was also inspired by his 8th grade teacher, Dr. Rembert Herbert. During an interview with CBS This Morning in 2019, Miranda got a surprise video message from Herbert who couldn’t help but congratulate the Hamilton creator on his success.
“[He’s] the reason I’m sitting here talking to you,” Miranda told David Begnaud. “I wrote a musical instead of doing my homework … He said, ‘You could be good at this and you should stop hibernating in my class.’ … We had a student-written theater club at my high school, and Rembert’s the one who nudged me in that direction, and he sort of changed my life forever with that.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had the sweetest Twitter exchange with a former teacher in August 2020. The congresswoman was preparing for the Democratic National Convention where she would have one minute to talk. She tweeted an excerpt from a poem by civil rights leader Dr. Benjamin Mays about having just 60 seconds to speak, and her elementary school teacher replied.
“Remember all those poems we recited together in 2nd grade?” Ms. Jacobs said. “It was prep for this moment. You’ve got this.”
“Ms. Jacobs! Is that you?!” AOC responded with the sobbing emoji. “Yes, I do remember … You prepared me perfectly for this moment. Thank you for teaching me, encouraging my growth, and believing in me as a child.”
Tyrese Gibson
In a 2019 interview with Access Hollywood, actor Tyrese Gibson said his high school music teacher, Reggie Andrews, would drive him to school since he often didn’t have a quarter to pay for the bus and it wasn’t a particularly safe neighborhood.
When asked what one thing he would say to Andrews today, Gibson said, “Thank you for being the father that I never had.”
“Mr. A” then came out from backstage, surprising his former student, and the two had the sweetest embrace.
