Saturday, August 17, 2019
Mr. Punga was my grade 8 teacher at Southwood Elementary in Windsor, Ontario. Class of 1987. He was a gentle giant, with a hilarious sense of humor, who encouraged our class to learn, laugh, and not take ourselves too seriously. There was something real about him. Even as kids we could see that he was a regular guy, who enjoyed life, who had a good head on his shoulders, who understood that teaching was more than just fact-pushing... rather, a time to encourage us to learn to think for ourselves. Now, in 2019 (32 years after I graduated from Mr. Punga’s class) my daughter is going into grade eight. I can only hope that she is as lucky as we were in 87 with Mr. Punga as a Teacher, Artist, Athlete, and all-around good guy.
