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A teacher who changed my life by Bill Gates

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A teacher who changed my life

Remembering Blanche Caffiere, who took me under her wing when I was 9.

Three very strong women-my mother, my maternal grandmother, and Melinda-deserve big credit (or blame, I suppose) for helping me become the man I am today. But Blanche Caffiere, a very kindly librarian and teacher I've never written about publicly before, also had a huge influence on me.

Mrs. Caffiere (pronounced "kaff-ee-AIR") died in 2006, shortly after reaching her 100 th birthday. Before she passed, I had an opportunity to thank her for the important role she played in my life, stoking my passion for learning at a time when I easily could have gotten turned off by school.

When I first met Mrs. Caffiere, she was the elegant and engaging school librarian at Seattle's View Ridge Elementary, and I was a timid fourth grader. I was desperately trying to go unnoticed, because I had some big deficits, like atrocious handwriting (experts now call it dysgraphia) and a comically messy desk. And I was trying to hide the fact that I liked to read-something that was cool for girls but not for boys.

Mrs. Caffiere took me under her wing and helped make it okay for me to be a messy, nerdy boy who was reading lots of books.

She pulled me out of my shell by sharing her love of books. She started by asking questions like, "What do you like to read?" and "What are you interested in?" Then she found me a lot of books-ones that were more complex and challenging than the Tom Swift Jr. science fiction books I was reading at the time. For example, she gave me great biographies she had read. Once I'd read them, she would make the time to discuss them with me. "Did you like it?" she would ask. "Why? What did you learn?" She genuinely listened to what I had to say. Through those book conversations in the library and in the classroom we became good friends.

Teachers generally don't want to burden their students with extra reading beyond the homework they've assigned. But I learned from Mrs. Caffiere that my teachers had so much more knowledge to share. I just needed to ask. Up through high school and beyond, I would often ask my teachers about the books they liked, read those books when I had some free time, and offer my thoughts.

Looking back on it now, there's no question that my time with Mrs. Caffiere helped spark my interest in libraries (Melinda's and my first large-scale effort in philanthropy) and my focus on helping every child in America get the benefit of great teachers. I often trace the beginning of our foundation to an article about children in poor countries dying from diseases eliminated long ago in the U.S. But I should give some credit as well to the dedicated librarian and teacher who helped me find my strengths when I was nine years old. It's remarkable how much power one good person can have in shaping the life of a child.

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Bill writes about his fourth grade teacher, Blanche Caffiere, who he credits with instilling his love of reading and learning.

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Shiok, right? More Singlish in Oxford English Dictionary by Lee Min Kok

PDF available on SLS MOE Library

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Shiok, right? More Singlish in Oxford English Dictionary

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Wah! Singaporeans can now find more of their favourite Singlish terms in the hallowed Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Read more at straitstimes.com.

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Annabelle Kwok: Sharing AI tech to make world an inclusive place

PDF available on SLS MOE Library

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At 25, Ms Annabelle Kwok has already made a name for herself.

Two years ago, she made waves when she co-founded SmartCow, an artificial intelligence (AI) company that came up with an electronic board that could run various AI software.

Last year, Ms Kwok left SmartCow and started NeuralBay, a company that focuses on detection and recognition software related to humans, objects and text, and offers AI-driven solutions for multinational corporations. Her clients include an aviation corporation, an automation industry company and chocolate company Ferrero.

Ms Kwok traces her interest in tech to a box of Lego bricks with electric cables called Lego Mindstorms, which her parents, who work in banking, bought for her when she was in primary school. With it, she built her own robots.

Ms Kwok, the younger of two children, picked up computer science in Temasek Junior College's integrated programme. To avoid getting caught playing games on her laptop during lessons, she learnt how to operate multiple systems concurrently within her computer.

"That's where I trace my hacking roots," she said with a laugh.

The Nanyang Technological University (NTU) mathematics graduate has many interests: She is a circus performer, short film-maker, hardware hacker, mixed martial arts fighter, licensed windsurfer, and once sang in a band. But what Ms Kwok wants to do in particular is to use her expertise to do good.

When she was 12, the former girl guide went on a relief mission to Phuket, which was badly hit by the 2004 tsunami. More than 200,000 people were killed in 14 countries.

"When you smell rotting corpses and see ruins, you realise how much of a cushy life you have. It was a big shock," she said.

At 19, she went to Togo in West Africa to volunteer with NTU. She found that many locals did not have easy access to mosquito sprays despite malaria being endemic there. "Why are mosquito repellents not available to people who need it the most? We push the frontiers of science, we do so many things to innovate, but it is not always inclusive."

This motivated her to do good.

"That's why I'm running my own company. I have the independence to share useful technology with smaller businesses that may not have resources to build it from scratch," said Ms Kwok, who recently partnered local charity Daughters Of Tomorrow to hire low-income women to identify and label objects in images for her firm.

"Technology is a bridge. We can use it to make the world a more inclusive place," she said.

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Annabelle Kwok: Sharing AI tech to make world an inclusive place

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At 25, Ms Annabelle Kwok has already made a name for herself. Two years ago, she made waves when she co-founded SmartCow, an artificial intelligence (AI) company that came up with an electronic board that could run various AI software.

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Access the document allocated to your group in this folder

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Access the document allocated to your group in this folder

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Please be logged in to your moe.edu.sg account to download the slides

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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In the folder you will find 2 files.

Learning Sheets (Word doc version) for facilitators to adapt

Printables (PDF version) which are ready for use

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.