REMEMBERING `MRS. STERN'; GREAT TEACHER CHANGED MANY LIVES, FRIENDS SAY.Byline: Heesun Wee Daily News Staff Writer When Dora Dunn showed up at Birmingham High School Birmingham High School is a public coeducational high school in the neighborhood/district of Lake Balboa in the San Fernando Valley section of the city of Los Angeles, California. The school is a part of District One of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). two years ago with bruises Bruises Definition Bruises, or ecchymoses, are a discoloration and tenderness of the skin or mucous membranes due to the leakage of blood from an injured blood vessel into the tissues. Pupura refers to bruising as the result of a disease condition. on her face, teacher Sherry Beth Sternlicht told the teen-age mother, then a senior, to leave her abusive husband. ``She gave me that power. I left him. It's been a year,'' said Dunn, now 20. When Derrel Friedman was a student at Birmingham in the 1960s and lost his best friend in a motorcycle accident, Sternlicht - ``Mrs. Stern'' to her students - drove to Friedman's house, listened and cried with him. ``When I was done, she just held me,'' he said. He said she made each student feel like the most important. When Judith Feldman, a former Birmingham teacher, wanted a permanent, Sternlicht told her no problem, she'd do the perm Perm (pyĕrm), city (1990 est. pop. 1,090,000), capital of Perm Territory, NE European Russia, on the Kama River. It is a transfer center for rail and river traffic and a major producer of machinery in the Urals industrial region. herself. ``She used itty, bitty white rollers. It looked like a Brillo pad Brillo Pad is a trade name for a scouring pad, used for cleaning dishes, and made from steel wool impregnated with soap. It came at a time when the introduction of aluminium pots and pans (replacing cast iron) was creating a quiet revolution in the kitchen. ,'' recalled Feldman, laughing. Sternlicht, an English teacher at Birmingham for 32 years, died in July after elective surgery elective surgery Surgery Any operation that can be performed with advanced planning–eg, cholecystectomy, hernia repair, colonic resection, coronary artery bypass . On Sunday, hundreds of her former students, colleagues, friends and family members filled the school's Performing Arts Building auditorium to pay tribute to a powerful woman who touched and transformed many lives. Those who knew the 58-year-old teacher described her as a caring, vibrant woman who gave bear hugs Bear Hug An offer made by a company to buy the shares of another company that is too high for the board of the target firm to refuse. Notes: If the target company says the merger is okay but they want a higher price, it is called a "teddy bear hug. , had a loud, infectious laugh and loved literature, traveling and music. She taught Shakespeare classes and, at the end of each academic year, organized a party in which students and she dressed up in togas and recited their favorite lines from the Bard of Avon. Sternlicht often played recorded classical music in her classroom, hoping her students were listening and learning. She did a mean boogie and once, during a faculty talent contest, she strutted across the stage in an awful-looking, ruffled ruf·fle 1 n. 1. A strip of frilled or closely pleated fabric used for trimming or decoration. 2. A ruff on a bird. 3. a. A ruckus or fray. b. Annoyance; vexation. 4. dress as she lip-synced to ``Stop! In the Name of Love'' sung by the Supremes. ``You'd look into her eyes and see an 18-year-old,'' said Dave Domike, who was in her class in the 1970s. ``She was a tornado blasting across the room. She was the best thing that ever happened in my life.'' ``She was organized chaos, flitting flit intr.v. flit·ted, flit·ting, flits 1. To move about rapidly and nimbly. 2. To move quickly from one condition or location to another. n. 1. A fluttering or darting movement. from side to side,'' agreed Missy Kullman, who was in Sternlicht's class in 1975. While Sternlicht had humorous and tender sides, she could be tough, recalled Diane Hershberg. The former student said Sternlicht ordered her to rewrite a composition as many as four times to meet the teacher's high standards. Caroline McElroy, a mother of several Birmingham students, said her children greatly benefited from Sternlicht's high expectations. ``She put her bulldoglike stubbornness where it was most needed - with her students,'' said McElroy. Jan Livingston, a former Birmingham English teacher, remembers that Sternlicht had a crush on Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax ``Thank you for being my guardian angel guardian angel believed to protect a particular person. [Folklore: Misc.] See : Angel guardian angel term for Christian namesake who watches over a young child. [Christianity: Misc.] See : Guardianship ,'' said Livingston, now a college counselor, as if conversing with Sternlicht. ``Don't stop.'' Others told how Sternlicht once stopped a class to admire the smile of a student whose braces had just been removed. Another time, she clasped a student who constantly walked with his head down and told him to look up. ``In your face - she was,'' said Emily Ettinger, a Birmingham English teacher. Irwin Sternlicht of Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. , a psychologist, sat front and center in the auditorium, wiping at tears as his wife's friends paid tribute to her. (1 -- 2 -- color) Hands applaud above a printed program picturing Sherry Beth Sternlicht - ``Mrs. Stern'' to her students - during the 32 years that she taught English at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys. At left, Dora Dunn wipes away tears as she speaks at a memorial service on campus Sunday. (3) The organizer - Emily Ettinger, right - and Ruth Rhodes hug at a service Sunday in memory of teacher Sherry Beth Sternlicht. Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News CAPTION(S): 3 Photos |
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