Everyday started with one of the same three questions: “What’d you do last night?”, “Any big plans for the weekend?”, or “What did you have for dinner?” It may seem silly, but to me, it showed that my teacher Mr. Reuter actually cared. He brought energy and life to those dreadful Monday mornings.

With each topic he introduced to our sixth grade class, his voice would rise and fall with his interest and stories. I learned so much from him just from the fact that he engaged all of his students by relating what we learned to our own lives. He put in a little extra effort to form a connection with each student. For me, he related topics back to my dream of being an olympic volleyball player.
There was never a dull moment in his class, only enforcing my efforts to stay zeroed in. He has a sarcastic sense of humor that drew in the class. One morning, as he stood in front of the room behind his podium, he became particularly enthused with a topic. As his excitement grew, his hands started moving all over the place and he bumped the podium, spilling the coffee that was sitting on top all over the front of his pants. The whole class fell over in laughter, but he didn’t mind. In fact, he joined in with us. Mr. Reuter was self-confident and did not take himself too seriously. Aside from that, he even made learning fun. Fun? Yes, fun. For instance, this was the year that we learned a ton about Ancient Greece. Besides reading from the dull textbooks, he would throw in questions to keep us focused and to break up the reading by allowing us to work on a dance routine and chant for the Greek Olympics (a competition we would be participating in against the other sixth grade classes). This was particularly exciting to me considering my Olympic dreams.

The atmosphere in the classroom was one of complete comfort. Even for me, a shy 11 year old. Not once was I uncomfortable asking Mr. Reuter a question in front of my classmates (like I was in other classrooms). He wasn’t “that teacher” that I was intimidated by. I believe Mr. Reuter played a huge role as to why I am still close with most of those classmates. He developed this type of environment through class dance offs, sing offs, and our daily 15 minute workouts to get our squirrelly sixth grade selves back on track.

Mr. Reuter is a great representation of the ideal teacher. When I reflect back on my sixth grade year, I remember laughing. And actually laughing constantly.
He provided help to those that needed it, and he provided engaging opportunities, and an environment that everyone felt comfortable in. I can say with confidence that each student in his class looked up to him as a role model. His demeanor is that of someone who doesn’t take themselves or others to seriously; however, he maintained the ability to keep restless sixth graders focused which is an achievement by itself. I was truly fortunate to have him as my teacher and that is why I am nominating him for educator of the year.