The example she set remained with the schoolgirl, who years later decided she, too, could make a difference by becoming a teacher.
Instead she was left stressed and scared as she entered a world where she was warned: “Never turn your back on the children.”
Mandy resigned after 18 months, stunned by the level of aggression and angered by the lack of support.
She was “devastated” when she heard her Spanish teacher, 61, had been stabbed to death in the classroom at Corpus Christi last week.
“It was people like Mrs Maguire who inspired me, but when I became a teacher things had changed so much,” she said.
“I saw a level of hostility from students towards teachers that I never saw when I was a pupil.
“I left because of the stressful nature of trying to control classroom behaviour.
"I never felt safe in the classroom and there was very little back-up, but I never imagined something like this could happen.”
After leaving Corpus Christi, Mandy went on to have a family before studying at Leeds University in 1996.
“I loved history, and thought teaching it would be a great experience,” she said.
It was people like Mrs Maguire who inspired me, but when I became a teacher things had changed so much
“That’s when it all went wrong,” said Mandy, 48.
“Behaviour in schools had changed.
"I was threatened more than once.
"But it was an incident with a Year 10 girl that really scared me.
"I had an electronic register with a red panic button for such occasions.
"When I pressed it the response took about 15 minutes.
"Luckily by then she had left the classroom.
“When I started teaching at high school I was told there would be classes I should not turn my back on and I should write any notices on the board before they came in.
"I thought that was a joke, but it was real.”
Mandy, who is married to an American, left the UK in 2005 to live in Texas.
“Anyone who goes into teaching at high school deserves a medal,” she said.
Yesterday 300 delegates at the National Association of Head Teachers’ conference in Birmingham held a minute’s silence in tribute to Mrs Maguire.
A 15-year-old boy has been charged with murder.
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