Sure wish  that I had known about Betty's passing in 2018
 We were true high school friends and I hold fond memories of our time as next door neighbors!


Ms. Jacobs was part of my youth, a more happy and hopeful time.

I just came across Ms. Jacobs' obituary. I was one her students more than 50 years ago when she taught me at Daleville High School in Daleville, Alabama. I never forgot her, she was a great teacher. I know that she was a great influence on my life and that she was a great teacher and influence on all of the students she taught in her many years as an educator. I am truly and deeply saddened to learn of her passing.

Ms. Jacobs, was one of the best teachers  at Mt. Brook school system.  I called some even years after I graduated.   She told me I would be good at teaching. I kept up with her, including  when I became an economist in practice and as a college faculty member.   Her Sociology class  included about 9 weeks of a survey of philosophy in the beginning.

Paul Gentle. Ph.D.

Ms. J was truly one-of-kind. Not many teachers have the ability to make high school kids love Social Studies, and yet she did this year after year. She brought history to life with her assignments, including turning a room in the library into a Vietnam jungle, sending students to interview military veterans, and telling stories about historical figures in a way that brought them back to life again. I still have my high school American History notebook, and have shared it with my own students. I am so sorry to hear about her passing - she was an amazing woman and educator.

If Mrs J taught a class at MBHS I took it- and loved it.  She had an incredible gift and shared that with so many students lucky enough to have her as a teacher.  The in depth discussions on the minds of serial killers and those with multiple personality disorders are ones I remember to this day - over 30 years later.  Thank you, Mrs J, and my prayers go out to her friends and family.

So sad to learn of her passing. I often wondered what she was up to over the years but I could never find any information online.

Man, I hated school so much. I never felt like I fit in at Mountain Brook (then again, who feels like they fit in in High School!??:) But then one year, along comes this amazing teacher who made me think, who taught me about critical thinking, about the value of pushing back against the status quo, about agnosticism and Voltaire and debate and on and on and on. She made me think and she made me feel heard. She opened up the world to me more than it had previously been. 

She was my Mr. Schue, Mr. Holland, and Mr. Rogers all rolled into one amazing teacher. She had a huge impact on my life.  I can easily say that without Ms. J, my life today would be meaningfully less than what it is.

What an amazing gift she gave to me and- I have to assume- to so many of her students.
 
I'm sorry I never got to tell you how you impacted me, Ms. J.  But you sure did, in a massive way. Thank you and Rest In Peace.


To her family and Mrs. J if you’re listening,

I loved her class SO much that I ended up choosing my profession because of how inspired I felt from what I learned in my advanced sociology class. I loved the personality test she made up for us and then we had to sit together with our similar personality type. Today I am a psychotherapist and help people understand their own personality and how they can approach life based on understanding themselves. Thank you, Mrs. J xoxo

I took Ms. J’s classes and ended up being her grading assistant. She was a wonderful teacher and a friend through the years. Rest In Peace! 

I took every class I could from her. Sociology,  history, and political science.  I went to summer school,  just to have her as a teacher.  Every student she had was impacted by her in a major way. Because of her, I learned about myself.  A truly gifted teacher. You were loved by so many Ms J.

I worked closely with  Betty for many years at Mtn Brook High as a fellow teacher and as an administrator.  She was a wonderful teacher, bonded with her students and admired by fellow co workers.  She loved her job and her students.  One of the best teachers I have ever been around.

One of the best teachers I ever had.    Genuinely good person as well.   I'm sure she enriched alot of lives.   I know she did mine.    Condolences to the family.

My deepest sympathies to the family of one of the best teachers I ever had— she was challenging, supportive, funny & kind. I still have the paper I wrote 40 years ago; will have to dig it out and re-read it in her memory.....

I still have my philosophy of life paper that I wrote in her class in high school. She had a powerful impact on all of us who were given the freedom to discuss and learn and enjoy all that she taught. What a great teacher! She is one of the reasons that I became a teacher myself.

I have so many wonderful memories with Betty Jacobs!  She was my history teacher, sociology teacher, campaign cohort, and friend.  We stayed in touch, visited, and corresponded until recently.  It saddens me to read of her passing.  She was a very dedicated and sincere teacher who truly cared about each of her students...one of a kind.  May God comfort her family as only He can.  

OBITUARY

Betty Shore Jacobs

April 4, 1944 – December 23, 2018

Ridout's Valley Chapel

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