Beautiful story.
It reminds me of my teacher of the last 2 years of primary school, who let me write stories and illustrate them, in little books ( that I still own ), during the hours when I was still in school but had no more work to do. As I was quicker than most classmates.
I got in touch with her last year, for the first time in decades ( my mom who still lives in the same city, managed to find her home address for me and I sent my former teacher a signed copy of my 'Hypersensitivosaurus and Cold Turkey' book. She replied to me by email and was clearly very happy to hear from me and said that she still recognized my style and humor, 3 decades later.
She was one of the few people who really believed in my creativity and expected me to become a writer.
Teachers can truly be inspirational and those who are sure compensate for the many that aren't.
That's wonderful that you were allowed to create and not have to sit there and be bored. People who cross our paths like that are true gifts.