Ex-student gives ‘Today Show’ tribute to Cambrian teacher

A filmmaker and author’s online tribute to her second-grade teacher at Farnham Elementary School in the Cambrian School District caught the eye of “Today Show” producers, who featured Joy Hart and her former student, San Francisco-based writer/filmmaker Sephora Woldu, in a May 6 segment in celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week.

Woldu wrote a tribute to Hart in an April 9 post to the “Humans of New York” blog.

“She was the first person to call me by my full name,” she wrote of her former teacher. “Even my family called me by my nickname ‘Sephie.’ But Mrs. Hart always used my full name: Sephora Woldu. And that’s a big deal when you’re a second grader. For the first time it got me thinking: ‘Who is Sephora Woldu?’ ”

Hart also helped Woldu answer that question by encouraging her in her writing.

“She was the first person to objectively tell me, ‘You are good at this. Do you want to get better at this? I can help you,’” Woldu told “Today Show” cohosts Jenna Bush and Hoda Kotb.

Woldu fondly recalled how Hart would often use her stories as examples for the class.

“It’s amazing to see your writing on display as a ki, and it helped me to be a little more brave in stuff I want to make,” the author said.

When Woldu’s family moved at the end of her second-grade year at Farnham, she and Hart became pen pals. Woldu said the correspondence made her feel “seen and appreciated.”

Now 31, Woldu recently published her first book, “Adventures in the Art of Rejection,” and one of the first copies went to Hart.

“It was very important for her to have a copy of the book because something as simple as her treating me with kindness and respect as a second grader helped me to understand that something like writing a book is possible,” Woldu said. “In the classroom setting, somebody expecting things out of you changed the way I thought I could interact with adults. She never put pressure on her students for her sake; it was for our sake.”

Hart, whose teaching career spans four decades, said she’s gratified by the choices her former student has made as an adult.

“It makes me happy to see that she’s doing well and she’s happy with life and she’s made decisions that she wanted,” Hart said of Woldu.

Hart also was happy with another part of her “Today Show” tribute, when Penguin Young Readers donated 100 books to the library at Sartorette Elementary School, where she currently teaches, in her honor.

“That’s one of my favorite parts of the day is reading with the kids,” Hart said.