As the number of latch key children and at-risk students increases, teachers have become one group of significant others with whom children spend much of their time. This paper focuses on students' sense of self and the teacher's role in positively impacting it, from the perspective of a model of mental health. This model places self-esteem, motivation, common sense, and the ability to learn by insight at its core. It is suggested that this state of mental health is a key to teachers eliciting and students accessing their positive sense of self and, therefore, enhancing motivation and learning. It is recommended that attention be paid to the ways in which teachers can positively impact students' sense of self, based on a model of mental health which facilitates access to the deeper self. The author asserts that for teachers to positively impact students' sense of self, they must view students in a positive way, provide an environment of socioemotional support, operate from a state of mental health themselves and interact with and relate to their students in ways that allow students to access their own mental health. (Author/BF)