Throughout my whole life, there is one teacher who I really like who made me realize how fun learning can be. She was my 8th grade English teacher, Mrs.Thomas. Mrs. Thomas made me actually excited to go to her class and made me excited about what we were going to learn that day. I can’t remember a day where I hated her class. She always made class fun, but when we needed to get work done, we got the work done. It was like she knew how to keep kids focused on the material she wanted to teach us. Mrs. Thomas understood kids, and she knew how to make us complete our goals and get us ready for high school.

My time in 8th grade felt like forever because you just want to be in high school already. Math you just wanted to sleep, science you wanted to cry, social studies you would just wish for it to be over, but then English class would just make up for the whole day. Mrs. Thomas would actually make want to stay awake in her class; she never made me bored. It was like she actually understood us and knew how to keep our full attention. Every day throughout the school year I couldn’t wait to go to her class. She would make actual funny jokes that would relate to the lesson or the book that we’re reading. You could talk to her like she was your friend and not your boss. I wouldn’t feel weird talking about anything with her, and she was and still is the only teacher I feel that way towards. I remember one day after school we started talking about my ex girlfriend and that I should take my phone background of us kissing off of my phone.

I remember how much fun it was to do stuff in her class was. Like in the beginning of the year she made us take pictures of ourselves and write goals of what you wanted for the school year. Everyday, when you would come into class, you would come in and look at your goals and see if you accomplished any; it was pretty smart. I remember she also made us write a letter to ourselves in the beginning of the year. We opened them at the end of the year to see how much we changed. It was like she was trying to push us to complete those goals, so that later on in life we can use that ability again. She made us strive for what we wanted in life and set goals for ourselves. If you wanted a A, you had to work your butt off for that A; if you want respect, you had to earn respect.

The main goal that Mrs. Thomas wanted to complete was knowing that she got us ready for high school which she did. Mrs. Thomas always made us work hard and write tons of essays. She told us that in high school no one will hold your hand, that we’ll do a lot of essays and work, and she was right. All the work she made us do, all the essays and problems, they paid off in the end. She really made me ready for high school, and I want to thank her for it. She really prepared me for the for the start of my new school year. She’s the best teacher I’ve ever had throughout my whole life.

Mrs. Thomas really prepared me for life in the future. She showed me that you have to earn what you want in life. She showed me how to set goals for myself and how I can accomplish those goals. I know I have more years of school to come, but so far no one has beaten Mrs. Thomas. I’m just waiting for the next teacher who can affect my life and me as a person like she did. For these reasons and many more she’s my pick for Teen Ink’s Educator of the Year Award.