In late July, actress Bryce Dallas Howard arrived at the DonorsChoose headquarters in New York City on a mission: to honor her favorite educator, a high school English teacher whom she still affectionately calls Mr. Scotch. Nearly three decades after leaving his classroom, Howard still remembers him as the teacher who saw past her struggles as a student and helped her recognize her full potential. 

The two embraced, and then immediately started reminiscing. For Scotch, his first impression of Bryce as a high school sophomore was that she “had the greatest laugh, the greatest courage, and the greatest joy.” And in true teacher spirit, Scotch took the opportunity to teach Bryce—and the rest of us—something new. 

“The definition of a sophomore is ‘wise fool,’” he said, and he and Bryce shared a laugh. “You epitomized that—completely worldly and completely innocent at the same time.” 

Bryce agreed. While she acknowledged that she was “very lucky” in terms of having access to an education, great teachers, and a supportive learning environment, Bryce also admitted that the classroom was not the most comfortable place for her, particularly English class. 

“I had a lot of learning disabilities,” Bryce recalled. “By........

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