Two decades after walking the halls of Excelsior Springs High School, Class of 2000 graduate Angela Williams Glenn carries the lessons learned in those classrooms into her own. Now a respected English and journalism teacher in Baltimore, Maryland, Angela empowers her students to raise their voices and share their stories with the world, just as her own teachers once inspired her to do.
On July 24, 2025, Angela returned home for a book signing of her latest release, Poetic Confessions, held at Opportunity Café and Coffee. Surrounded by friends, family, and former educators, including her own mentors Linda McCollum and Sheila Gatlin. Angela paid tribute to the educators who shaped her path.
In the following essay, “The Ripple Effect of Teachers,” Angela reflects on the powerful legacy of small-town teachers whose everyday encouragement continues to echo through the lives of their students—near and far, then and now.
The Ripple Effect of Teachers
I grew up in the small Midwest town of Excelsior Springs, Missouri in the 80s/90s. Before that my dad did and before him his parents did. The history of my family’s roots in Excelsior Springs goes back further to more generations before my grandfather. There’s something special about having those kind of deep roots in your hometown.
Though I moved away, my nieces and nephews are Tigers and as they near high school I look forward to going home to root on the next generation of my family’s Once a Tiger, Always a Tiger tradition.
I always thought, still to this day after I’ve traveled most of the country, lived on the East Coast in Washington DC and Baltimore, think Excelsior Springs is one of the best places to raise a family.
Though my family roots are deep there, it was the influence of Excelsior Springs schools and my peers there that have also convinced me all these years later that it was still the best place to grow up.
In the 80s/90s growing up the only female career women were my teachers. Though I’m sure our parents and other family had a role in molding who we all became and inspired us to be who we are today I’m sure if you asked our community leaders of Courtney Morgans (Cole), Katrina Yoakums, Kenny Manleys, Lyndsay Baxters, Kristal Reeds, Sarah St. Johns, they, too, along with so many others that though we left the area to build our lives and influences in other parts of the state or country, they too would give you names like Love, Brown, Phillips, McCollum, Gatlin, Bierle, Schindler, Robinson, Tuck, Irons, Greene and so many more that shaped and influenced who they became as adults.
I’ve watched so many of my classmates go on to not just find successful jobs that provide for them, but go on to be difference and change makers. They aren’t just working for money, they’re leading their communities — for some our Excelsior Springs community — and making change and paving new paths forward. They weren’t just educated in Excelsior Schools, they were inspired and influenced to not just succeed but to take charge and lead as the best version of themselves and to go out and do amazing things in the world.
My class of peers are 20+ years removed from their classrooms yet our experiences there still shape who we are. If we’re lucky enough to stay in touch with our teachers, seeing the lives they live outside their classrooms still inspire us in our day to day. I’m sure I’m missing some amazing past Excelsior teachers, as well as my peers that went on to do great things, but let me assure you the tradition of excellence to not just educate but inspire a generation is the E-town way.
As a new school year starts and the current generation graces those hallways remember that is the beauty of your small town teacher. Their influence will ripple well past that one to few years spent under a teacher’s wing. Teachers are a community’s goldmine. What they invest in those students that will sit in those seats at the beginning of any year will be returned in 10–20 years. Teachers are an investment well worth the money. They determine the future of your community.
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