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Teachers possess a power that few adults enjoy: the ability to help change another person's life. Think back to your own school years and recall who made an indelible impression on you, for good or bad. We remember how teachers treated us, what they expected of us, how they believed in our potential to grow into smart, responsible adults.

Teachers know us a way our families never can. Good teachers care about each student, but in a way that is free from the complicated emotional strings that tie a parent to a child. A great teacher sees a student as an individual with his or her own talents — and a great teacher knows how to tap into the strengths and bolster the weaknesses.

A great teacher is crucial to a student's academic success, but a great teacher is also crucial to a young person's personal development and direction in life.

Attracting and supporting great teachers to Tucson schools is necessary to improving education and, in turn, our shared culture, economy and community.

As a means to that end, the new Tucson Values Teachers effort was launched. Driven by reports and community meetings that focused on the role of public education in the success of our region, Tucson Values Teachers aims to find ways to recruit and keep high-quality teachers to work in local schools.

Tucson Values Teachers kicked off its work with a My Favorite Teacher contest, in partnership with the Arizona Daily Star and Arizona Public Media. Submissions were made online and a panel of judges selected the winners. Prizes will include certificates to Metro Restaurants.

These are the 2008 winners and excerpts from their nominations:

The selfless acts of two teacher/coaches altered my life forever. I was a junior at Salpointe in 1983 when my mom announced that we would be moving back to Mexico. I was devastated and felt as though my world had come to an end. I was going to be a senior, a starter on the basketball team, pursuing a college and career path, and all of it was quickly vanishing. But after crying and pleading with my mom, she agreed agreed to let me stay if I could find a way to survive on $200 per month. I quickly turned to my most trusted advisors: my coaches.

It was Jay John's last season at Salpointe before launching his college coaching career. Somehow he persuaded his fellow teacher/coach, Bob Logan, to let me live with him and his new bride, Judy, during my senior year. How they allowed a teenager to invade their home and privacy during their first year of marriage is beyond me. Thankfully they've stayed married. I will never be able to repay their generosity, which allowed me to stay.

We won the city championship that year. The first congratulatory phone call came from upstate New York where John had started his college career. Aided by a scholarship and a job arranged by coach John, I went on to graduate from the University of Arizona. There I met my wife of 19 years and mother of my three beautiful children.

It is hard to imagine where my life would be had it not been for my coach and teacher. But I know the actions of Coach John and Mr. Logan not only influenced my life, they created my destiny.

I would like to nominate this teacher because I think back every day of my life to the things that I learned in this class. No, I'm not talking about grammar or math skills, but about the inspirations and assignments in which we had to think outside the box and use logic. We were treated with respect, not like how an amateur teacher would treat fifth graders.

We could be free with our emotions, and we didn't have to close ourselves up like in most of public school.

During this year in school, I learned responsibility, creativity, individuality, logic skills, cooperation, teamwork, patience and leadership. I learned about life and death (we had class pets, and all died of different causes), I learned that grades are earned (not just handed out), I learned about the way society functions in regard to standardized testing (in reality, we are not just a number), and I was first exposed to the idea that education is preparation for life, not just a job.

This is all in addition to the coursework we learned, of course. By the time I went to middle school after this class, I was clearly ahead in terms of facts and concepts. I know what E=mc2 meant, and who Mother Teresa was; I'd already read "The Outsiders" and "The Giver." I'd learned some algebra. I'd built battery-powered rockets. And I knew about kinds of taxes. Considering my point in school now, this doesn't seem like such an accomplishment, but at the time, we felt VERY well prepared.

Ms. Lackey had an intellect, subject knowledge, dedication and love of teaching that I had never experienced before high school, nor ever again. When not teaching English with an emphasis on her incredible knowledge of Shakespeare, she was my debate coach. We had a super team because of her desire for perfection and a winning attitude. Endless hours were spent after school.

In later years, as a grandmother to two children who had some learning difficulties, she tutored them into full-fledged scholars.

My love of language, grammar, Shakespeare, and having a good friendly debate are the result of Ms. Lackey's uncompromised excellence. Almost 90 now, she lives in the Chicago area near family. But she is still my revered friend and mentor. We talk regularly. I recently visited her and she is as spritely as ever. And she can still quote Shakespeare with passion and accuracy, diagram a sentence and spell any word.

Her zest for life is infectious and I hope to grow old as graciously as she.

Mrs. Ackerman was my advanced class teacher from third to fifth grade. She was one of my favorite teachers at Sunrise Drive and I always looked forward to her classes. When a student was having trouble, she took the time to help us understand. Mrs. Ackerman was very smart and knew how to teach us.

Mrs. Ackerman introduced me to ways of learning other than textbooks and homework. Where a regular class would do a paper on a subject, our class would weave baskets, make a diorama, or build a structure out of blocks. Mrs. Ackerman inspired me to work hard to be successful, and showed me different ways to look at places and objects.

I am in eighth grade and often look back on what Mrs. Ackerman taught us, and I'm sure I will use what I learned from her for the rest of my life.

Students would often spend their lunches or mornings in Mrs. Ackerman's classroom. We would build domes and intricate bridges out of blocks, feed the various specimens we were studying or work on rebuilding the great marble machine. We would come in just to talk to Mrs. Ackerman, or sometimes help her set up for another class's work. Along with the advanced classes Mrs. Ackerman also taught Lego Robotics, which I enjoyed in fifth grade.

A good teacher inspires her students to look beyond the horizon but a great teacher inspires her students to go beyond the horizon. Such a teacher has inspired me to reach for the furthest I can go with character and determination.

As a seventh-grader, many at that age are trying to grasp some confidence, to show the world who they are. Many times a teacher can help to bring out that inner being. Ms. Karen Blute taught my social studies class. She taught me to see the world through an objective mind, to see every side of the spectacle held.

Most teachers would have strictly stuck to the subject at hand, but she shaped us into seeing that the world is connected to everything. Connections — that word became so ground into our minds that we saw links from WWI to math; from 200 years ago to today. It made us think, not of just being able to name the dates of the Civil War (I still recall them) but of ourselves and how we're part of the world. How am I making history today?

We saw ourselves as mere seventh graders. She saw us as young adults. She arranged every assignment so that it was all relative to now. She was frank with us; equal with us. Our class discussions brought out so much thought that I had to wonder if we were the future United Nations. If even a class clown decided to make a comment, she found the relevance in it. Like that, more people should be open minded and confident.

With her in mind, I hope I become someone in life who never fails to make the connection. That's why Ms. Karen Blute is my favorite teacher.

Ms. Garbini was my fourth and fifth grade teacher. When she came to Hughes, our soon-to-be-fourth grade class was a bit unruly due to numerous substitute teachers in third grade. When the year started, we were all captivated by her humor, how artistic she was and that she could actually make learning fun! She taught us in ways that I don't think we even realized we were learning.

Ms. Garbini taught us the importance of being true to ourselves and that working hard pays off in the long run. Lorelyn and I have had a close friendship throughout my adult life. I had volunteered in her classroom for four years after college when she asked me why I wasn't going back to college to get another degree to teach. With her encouragement I did, and completed my student teaching with her.

I am a fifth-grade teacher with my own two children. We have battled life's trials and tribulations together, always finding the humor in the dreariest situations. To this day, she is one of my dearest friends.

While I don't have one story that stands out, this is a person who has dedicated her life to her students. Even when she is frustrated and fed up with "the system," she always remembers to put her students first and does it with class and grace. I have learned to do the same.

I hope that one day I will have a student who remembers me 20 years later and that I, too, can make a life-long impact on a child's life.

She is really laid back and she always keeps everyone laughing. She is very kind and respectful to all of her students. You can tell that she loves her job and that she really does care about all of her students. Mrs. Jensen pretty much taught me to like English class. She has taught me a lot of great things about life and the challenges we face. I've also leaned to be more of an open person.

I think Mrs. Jensen is so important because she doesn't just want to teach the standard stuff and she doesn't just teach to get paid. She teaches anything and everything that have to do with real life and that you can relate to and will catch your eye. She has great interest in what she is teaching and she always has so much enthusiasm.

When teaching she always makes her first priority to make sure that we understand everything we do in class. You can tell she takes her time to plan assignments. Everything we do is fun and at the same time we learn. Mrs. Jensen is always happy — you never see her angry. She tries to help her students any way possible with anything they need. Her door is always open if we ever need anything.

The reason I believe Mrs. Jensen is important is just basically because she cares about her students so much, as if they were her own kids. She plans lessons out to where we have fun in the learning process of course. Everything we do has been about our life and history.

She includes everyday teen issues and has the tendency to make a person who may have not like reading love it when he or she is done with her class. She has influenced my life so much. She made me believe that I can graduate and make my family surprised as to how far I've come.

I can always learn something new in her class. She teaches exploratory literature, which includes negative aspects of life. With this tough topic she still manages to make it enjoyable to learn about. She is important because she doesn't let children give up; she gives them hope. This hope leads to success, and this success is brought on by an amazing teacher, Mrs. Kathryn Jensen. I have come to realize that this world is filled with negatives, but Mrs. Jensen changes all that. She gives a positive outlook on everything. Mrs. Jensen influences me because I have started wanting to achieve so much in my time. I don't want to let her down, because she definitely hasn't let me down.

She is so important because she puts so much effort into teaching, trying to get us through. Help in anything we do, even if it's not school-related. She makes you want to come to school. This is really important, because if it weren't for her I would probably hate English class. The fact that someone helps you, cares about you and is there to support you is great, because it makes you a better person. If she knows you're not doing good, she is there to help you.

She always has so much energy when teaching us. She tries to involve our work with our interests, such as music or movies. I'm more than sure that if I ever had a problem I could talk to her about it. When I'm in a bad mood she makes it known that she understands completely. Even though she gives out a lot of work, I'm grateful because she keeps me busy.

She actually pays attention to our work and reads what we have to say. I will say she is a unique teacher because the other teachers don't know what you are going through and they just give you a lot of work. She influences my life by being herself. She's always herself in class and she doesn't care what people think about her and that's why I admire her.