Rabbit11's Journal

So as many of ya'll know Stephen is my favorite teacher. And because of this I wanted to nominate him for a Top Teacher Award that a local news station does every year and every year I nominate a teacher. Below is what I typed about him.

2. Impacts Others:

A. Students' Lives: Stephen in riches students' lives in many ways. During class he feeds students with knowledge that will get them thinking. When thoughts go through the students heads it often gets them thinking about their view and as well as others. Often to these thoughts give students ability to discover themselves even deeper. Some of the things that he discusses often makes students go beyond boundaries that they would normally wouldn't talk about and often these discussions lead to inspiring students to make a change in the world. He often helps students make right choices an example of this is when he helped me get help with my depression. He gets students to go beyond what their feeling and to look ahead to a better future there are a couple of examples of this. When he started journaling for his Human Relations class, he told every single student to write at the end of every entry "I made it." The second example is when a student is struggling, he says something funny or says "child, you are going to make it."

Something that amazes me with his Human Relations is when he does the Peace Circle. A Peace Circle is when we students sit in a circle and talk about an issue and how it relates to us or issues we are dealing with. Students open up and often there is crying or anger and when this happens students often hugs the person or tells them something that lifts the spirit of the student. I've never seen this kind of support from students and the closeness of the students since the Peace Circle started. This is only a few ways he impacts students' lives.

B. Teaching Profession: Stephen as an unique approach to teaching. Stephen uses different methods that gives students the ability to learn using what works best for them. These methods are hands on, demonstrations, and using textbooks. In his Human Relations he often does speaking. One exercise he does is a Peace Circle. The Peace Circle is when he has all students sit in a circle and has us start to talk about an issue that people are facing or that we are facing. In this circle many students have a lot of emotions that are pent up until the circle where Stephen allows these emotions to be let out. After the venting, he gives feed back and allows other students to share their experiences with the person, which brings a sense of community to the whole school. I’ve noticed this particularly with this year since there hasn’t been any fights compared to last year were it was a struggle to get through the day without one and every student in his class says hi to one another and if they notice something wrong they ask if there is anything they can do to help.

Also with his Human Relations he allows students to relive their good memories. One of these are when he brought the students to a near by park while there he allowed the students to play on the park equipment to relive their childhood. They were then to write about it. The smiles on everyone’s face was truly amazing because some of these students I never saw a smile. In his classes he often motivates students. He does this by leading by example and speaking. He has motivated his Human Relations to help a family of one our schools by raising money, food, and presents for this family for Christmas. Us, students, raised over $400, three boxes of food, and a lot of presents.

C. Community: On top of working at my school Stephen works at the Boys & Girls Club in North Minneapolis. After working at my school he goes right there to work with kids. While there he teaches the drill and dance team that he started. The kids there have remarkable respect for him. He was recently at a ceremony were the kids made speeches about him thanking him for what he has done for them, which lead him to cry. The program has been a remarkable success with them going to national competitions. He often puts his own money to make sure his kids gets the best equipment and that they get what they need.

4. Why does this individual deserve the award? Stephen deserves the award because he is an outstanding, hardworking, and inspiring educator. He goes beyond what is asked of an educator. He devotes every single minute of his time to his work and students. He is continually making sure that every single one of his students are passing all of their classes. If a student is not in school he will call them and ask them why they weren’t in school. He is always willing to help at a moments notice. He also connects with each and every student. Stephen can understand what students are feeling by taking the time out to listen in order to see it from their point of view. He continually helps youth grow in many ways from knowledge to personality. This hardworking, inspiring, caring individual goes beyond what is asked of an educator and he deserves the award more than anyone.