I remember Mrs. Samii well as I was a student in her first 6th grade class at Jean Parker Elementary School.  She was my favorite teacher who not only taught us academics, but integrity, honesty, loyalty, understanding, patience, acceptance, funny and just a great person.

She was the only teacher I had that talked about her family.  She loved them.  She used to talk about Valerie esp. during one holiday when she was in an ice skating performance at the Emporium in SF.  She encouraged us to go there to meet her.  When I told her I'd go, she asked me to look Valerie up and mentioned me to her.  Mrs. Samii introduced me to Valerie and she showed me a few pointers in skating without being judgmental as I was so horrible at it.  Mrs. Samii was also busy backstage managing the curtains which she kept messing up because they kept getting stuck during the performances.  LOL.  I saw her hustling and we laughed about it the next day.

A couple particular instances I remembered was a rival 6th grade class always had it in for us, and she esp. liked to pick on me.  I was traffic monitor and we were allowed to bring magazines while we were waiting for the class to go to recess.  The rival teacher grabbed my magazine from me, and said she was going to report me to Mrs. Samii.  The rival teacher was furious, but Mrs. Samii was calm.  After the teacher left, I thought my parents were going to get involved, but Mrs. Sammi simply returned the magazine and said, "Is this yours?  Next time, if you read it, don't get caught in front of her."  LOL .  She never made a big deal out of any wrong doing the students did.  The other teachers were really strict and we would get in big trouble, taken to the principal's office, be humiliated in front of others, stand in the corner, yelled at and even get hit with a ruler.  Mrs. Samii never did any of that.  She was the perfect teacher.  She even laughed at herself.  There were a few times when she couldn't find the correct answer to several math problems with her assistant, and threw her arms up in the air, laughed and said, "Let's get back to that later.  I don't know the answer--if any of you kids can figure it out, there will be a prize."  LOL.

Another time, the rival teacher was recess monitor, and as the entire class of primary students were coming down the stairs, she accused me of touching the railing and benched me for the entire 15 mins. of recess.  Again, she reported me to Mrs. Samii and I could see how angry the rival teacher was.  (Keep in mind that the other teacher was stepping on Mrs. Sammi's territory as each teacher was responsible for their own class).  Anyway, after the other teacher left, Mrs. Samii asked me to come to her desk and asked me what really happened.  I said I thought she knew.  Mrs. Sammi said, "Yes, but I want to hear from you what happened because I don't know if she told me the truth--and I don't understand why she is so upset over this."  I told her I did NOT lean on any railing, but perhaps my dress rubbed against it.  She nodded and asked me to go back to my desk.  She stepped out (assuming she went to talk to the other teacher), called me back and Mrs. Samii apologized to me on her behalf for that teacher's behavior!  I was shocked as it was unheard of in those days for a teacher to apologize to a student.  Mrs. Samii continued and said the other teacher wasn't being nice, that she believed me, and it was wrong of her to treat me the way she did.  She asked me if I was ok, if I understood that she should not have mistreated me, I told her yes.  She knew I was confused and said I could always come to her if I needed anything. Mrs. Sammi knew the other teacher was difficult as our entire class would complain about her.  Mrs. Samii never said anything unkind about her, but she smiled whenever we complained and was aware...and even joked about her.  LOL.  She had the best sense of humor.  I was teased a lot because I was chubby, but Mrs. Samii was always sensitive to that.  She didn't give me special treatment, but she was always thoughtful and aware.  I remember she used to write me note cards to encourage me.  

The episodes with the other teacher sounds small, but when you are in the 6th grade, it's huge to be humiliated in front of the entire school.

When we "graduated" to middle school, she said she would never forget us because we were her first 6th grade class and we were special.  It was hard for her to say bye, and we could see she was getting  emotional.  

She always had a special place in my heart.  

I was saddened to hear she passed away recently.  I am comforted knowing that she had a long life with many loved ones, and it seems like she died happy.  When I saw the photo, I recognized her immediately as she had that same beautiful smile I remembered.  Ironically, I grew up in SF until 10th grade, then moved to Daly City.  The last ten years I helped my aging father who lived literally 6 mins away from the sr. living facilities where Mrs. Samii lived.  Had I known, I would have visited her.  

Rest in peace, Mrs. Sammi.  Thanks for being such a positive role model and great influence on my life.