John Byrne is a high school English teacher in New York. He describes his classes as rowdy—and he’s known for encouraging students to be themselves. But, as he told former student Samantha Liebman, when he was a young teacher 30 years ago, he had a very different style.

Originally aired June 24, 2011, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Note: StoryCorps founder Dave Isay went to high school at Friends Seminary, where John teaches. That did not factor into choosing this story for broadcast.