Erik Stenberg Scholarship Fund

Erik Stenberg's time with us was shorter than it should have been but his impact to his family, friends, colleagues and students far surpassed what most of us can hope to accomplish in an entire lifetime. Erik had two significant and lasting legacies in life – his family, and his passion to serve those who were underserved – he recognized the privilege he had been blessed with in life and he worked tirelessly to use that privilege to fight the social injustices of the world. Many of you have expressed a desire to help, or contribute to one of the causes near and dear to his heart. To keep his legacy and impact going we will be setting up a scholarship fund in his memory, to be awarded to one of his beloved Terra Linda AVID students. 

Please donate and share so we can keep the legacy of his life and impact alive.

Rather than attempt to describe the incredible impact of his life on those around him I will let the words of those people he impacted speak for it. 

“He honestly believed in me and saw a light in me that I didn't recognize myself. He made me believe that I could do anything. I am positive reading through post tonight that he has made that same impact on every life that he has touched along his path. “


“He was always watching my back at school and I spent way too many nights annoying his family with my abrasive personality.

That was who he was.

Someone in pain? I'm there.

Something's wrong? Let's fix it together.

Something is unfair? We're making it right.

Is there music playing? I'm not dancing.”

 "I'll never forget the lessons you taught me, nor the kindness you showed me almost 10 years ago when I was in high school. When I had family hardship, you always checked in on me and kept me going straight. I can't believe our last usual bagel street cafe breakfast together was really our last. You showed me the world through a different, better light. And you made the world a better place."

“Thank you for not just being a teacher from 8-4pm. Thank you for texting me during summer and for inviting me out for coffee when I was home from college.”


“Thank you for looking out for my friends when times got rough. You were the only reason I’d go back to my high school (sorry to everyone else) & it won’t be the same without you.”


“He holds the hope for everyone... especially high school kids that don’t have the capacity to hold the hope for themselves and their futures. He believed in us when no one else did. That’s why we went to him. I’ll never forget the times I spent my lunches in his classroom because I was struggling with life. There were always at least 5 other kids also escaping life.”

 

“Thank you for all your support even when I was pregnant I still remember when You told me I believe in you go back to school & be someone ❤️ that gave me hope to go back”

 

“ll always cherish all the memories that I had with you. You were not only my Avid high school teacher, you were much more than that❤ This last school year at SJSU, I promise I’ll finish strong. Like you said in our recent text messages, “So good!, I’m really really proud of you!” I promise I’ll make you and my family proud. Love ya and I’ll miss you Stenberg”


“You have touched and motivated so many lives! I know your name will live on! You were one of my top teachers whom i had respect for because of how you treated students ... even those who were not your students. You always had an open door to your classroom ... even for your fellow coworkers.”

“You believed in my writing when no one else did. Getting to college wouldn’t had been possible without your support and overall dedication.”

"What would Erik do?" You'd tell me to keep my door open. To listen more than I talk. To make every lesson my own, then share.

“He seemed to balance friends, family, work, and social causes effortlessly and somehow found time to give to all of these things (and give his full attention to each as he was doing so). It is a skill that I wish I could master even fractionally as well as he had. As most people already described all over social media, he was such a charismatic, outgoing, genuine individual. He cared deeply about people, causes, and doing good in the world. And as the outpouring of support from his students has shown, he was doing a lot of good.”

“You are an example to all of us. Thank you for living and teaching and loving the way you did. The ripple effects of your work and your life will extend beyond what you ever could have imagined. You led a good life.”

“You were one of the finest teachers I have ever known and my respect for you could not be higher. You were not good; you were great. Greatness is rare in this life and in any profession. High quality instruction aside (which you delivered), you also had on lockdown what must come with greatness; that is, kids knew you were their number one advocate, that you not only cared, you cared deeply, that all they felt toward you was mutual, that you believed each one of them could reach their full potential and you'd be damned if you weren't going to do all you could to help get them there. Along the way, they'd become academics.”

“I promise that your legacy will live on in our work and I will watch over your AVID students the way that you would need me to.”

“Sten, you were the very first to welcome me at TLHS, and over the course of the last couple years I was lucky enough to witness the magnitude of your impact in the lives of students, families, and staff. Over and over again, I listened to students as they expressed their deep gratitude for the perspective you provided, for the investment you made in every person to walk through your door. Every person who came into contact with you is better for it. You gave a piece of your heart to everyone you knew, and we will carry those pieces of you for the rest of our days.”

“He seemed to balance friends, family, work, and social causes effortlessly and somehow found time to give to all of these things (and give his full attention to each as he was doing so). It is a skill that I wish I could master even fractionally as well as he had. As most people already described all over social media, he was such a charismatic, outgoing, genuine individual. He cared deeply about people, causes, and doing good in the world. And as the outpouring of support from his students has shown, he was doing a lot of good.”

“As I completed each year of high school, I became more uncertain and terrified of the stability of my future. You were the first person I was able to connect with in regards to establishing a different perspective of life. My friends and I had spent our lunch time in your class simply because of the secure and comfortable environment you provided for your students. Many of us confided in you about our struggles, whether it be academic, social, or family issues; I admired that you always contributed to such valuable advice and guidance that I needed during that time.”

“The last few days I’ve been thinking of the extensive amounts of enjoyable moments we had in your class. Walking down the hall, I could always hear music playing from your class just as we entered to have our seats. You chose literature that exposed us to historical and current injustices to remind us of how society has either changed or remained the same.

I will always carry your teachings and friendship with me. Although I am deeply devastated over the short time you have spent with us, I am so grateful and honored to have known you. You are so appreciated and loved by all of your students.”

“What an amazing man who changed so many of our lives for the better. I was just looking at my college essay a few weeks ago with all of his suggestions and encouraging words. So thankful for all of his support and guidance. He will never be forgotten.”

"I can recall many of our conversations, his choices in words, his witty sarcasm, and I feel so broken. I saw him before I graduated college in Safeway. He completely stopped what he was doing just to catch up with everything."

"I wish everyone could have known him and experienced him as a teacher. What a wonderful man. My heart goes out to his family and all of the lives he touched and taught."

“ Friend and mentor to so many! Always a willing listener, no matter who was telling the story!”

“ truly one of the most amazing, kindest, funniest, most genuine people I have ever known. To say this rocked everyone, is an understatement”

“In college, I wrote a paper based on my experience in his class, his teachings on editing and constant attention to detail, the process of revising drafts ad infinitum...Perhaps the lesson was that perfection cannot be achieved by resting on our laurels, but eventually, the due date comes, and there is nothing we can do but accept how far we have come knowing that we tried our best."

"He inspired far more than just one or two minds, he provided protection from cynicism, social turbulence, and cared deeply for the students who were seemingly forgotten all of their lives."

"Erik Stenberg gave it everything. He achieved perfection by the legacy he left”

“That feeling of being welcomed carried throughout the entire year. It was a feeling of comfort. It was a safe space to share your ideas, your work, and you were never judged for anything that you may have written or that you wanted to share. And as someone whom, to this day, does not like to share anything they’ve written or many of my ideas, that was a big deal for me. I would often go into class early just to hang out and talk to him because he was so easy going and easy to talk to.”

“Students loved him, he believed in them and their potential. He pushed them.”

“Erik was one of the finest young people I have been blessed to have in my classroom. A gentleman a good friend to his classmates. Not surprised that he was a great teacher."

“When many doubted me, you were the one that made me believe in myself. I remember my senior year at TL, I was close to not passing the math class I needed in order to go to a 4-year university. You knew that, so you came with me to speak to my other teacher, and you told her all these nice things about me, so the other teacher got to know me a little better, because of you, and with that simple act of kindness of yours, it made me see that I was capable of so much more so I tried even harder just to prove you right. I was going through my "senioritis" but you always made sure I had my priorities straight, and it was never a question if you cared cuz your warmth was all over you even before you spoke. You taught me all the things that my parents couldn't teach me since they couldn't achieve higher education but you made sure that I would, and I did and I continue to. If I know a lot today, that is because you showed me.”

“There were a lot of douchebags teachers at my highschool, but Erik Stenberg wasn't one of them. He was kind, understanding, supportive and friendly to me no matter what. I only wished I knew him better and got to say goodbye. He had the greatest qualities a human being could have and he never asked for anything in return but respect.”

“To my favorite English teacher, for all those times you still continued to believe in me, even after being late to class and cutting class most of my Freshman year. Thank you for everything you taught me. You were the kindest person I ever met. You made me believe in my writing. You never gave up on any of your students and instead pushed them to strive for further opportunities.”

“ You loved helping many people .. I’m glad I was able to be yur student when I was in high school .. you were always their for me when I thought I couldn’t keep up with school but you were the one putting my hopes up.”

"You were a positive influence and a very understanding figure during a very confusing time in my life. You offered meaning and humor to seemingly dull material and truly had a good head on your shoulders. It wasn't your time, you were only 10 years older than me." 

"I am deeply saddened by the passing of one of the best teachers I have ever had in my entire life, Erik Stenberg. I had the privilege of being one of his students his first year at Terra Linda High School. He taught me lessons that go far beyond the classroom. He taught me compassion and understanding. He taught me how to be strong and resilient. He taught me ambition. He always told me to never stop dreaming big."

"I have always been a bookworm, but Mr. Stenberg's freshman English class was where my love of reading and writing - first and foremost in the form of Harry Potter fan fiction - was truly realized. While I was not the best student in the world, Mr. Stenberg always saw the potential in me, in ways I hadn't experienced from teachers or anyone else before. He was supportive and inspirational, his class drew out a creativity in his students many of had no idea was there. His classroom was a safe space for myself and countless other students in the eleven years since we both began at Terra Linda."

"Rest in peace to one of the genuinely best, most good, warmest, most loving, and amazing people I have ever met. You've made such an impact on this world -- on my friends, coworkers, students, teachers (random people on the street probably, knowing your smile). You showed me the power that a teacher can have in saving a life. You showed me how being there and listening with an open heart is often all people need from you to find their own strength."