How I went from Sanger to Disney, thanks to good teachers

David “Mas” Masumoto’s piece on teachers was very touching and relevant to me.

We attended the same high school and knew the same teachers. I graduated a few years before he did.

I wrote a letter to a teacher that helped me go from picking grapes as a teenager to becoming a film editor at Warner Bros. and Disney Studios. On the way, I worked at KMJ radio as a remote engineer with Dick Shepard and at Channel 24 with Bob Long, and the rest of the news staff, as a floor manager.

I never dreamed of going to college until Ed Perkins at Sanger High School told me I could get a scholarship to Fresno State if I got my grades up. Being the oldest of eight kids in the family, it was a struggle to find quiet time to do homework, but I did, got the scholarship, and it changed my life.

He responded to my letter by congratulating me on my success, and thanked me for remembering him.

I told him he was one of the most important people in my life, and I would always be thankful he chose to help me achieve what I thought would never be possible.

This story was originally published June 29, 2016 at 1:06 PM with the headline "How I went from Sanger to Disney, thanks to good teachers."