I Nominate Mr. Walker for Educator of the Year!

 There was a teacher of mine who on the first day of school asked us what the quote on a painting underneath his desk said. I raised my hand eager to be included and read aloud, "Don't Let Bozos Grind You Down". At first, I along with the rest of my peers didn't know what to make of this quote, but throughout the rest of the semester, I along with the rest of my classmates started to understand what it truly meant. This realization brought about by a convergence of his deft sense of humor, negative attitude towards blatant disrespect and his invulnerable determination to help his students through after-school study sessions gave me more than enough reason to nominate this man. Though, you may be wondering, "Who could ever fit such an astounding description?" That person was my 9th-grade Civics teacher Mr. Walker. He works at DMA (Delaware Military Academy) and is to me, a worthy candidate for this award.

 The first highly admirable quality that I will open with is his witty sense of humor. As a fresh 9th-grade student being thrown straight into this new aggressive educational environment, it very easy to feel overwhelmed at times, but Mr. Walker's constant barrage of jokes and witty remarks lessen the tension so drastically that it brings a familial vibe to this place of learning. Normally in class he would occasionally “pick-on” as he calls it, his students in order to either create an example, prove a point or just making a joke. Don’t worry though, before he “does the picking” he will ask if he can pick on your real quick and the answer is always yes! This quality of his is highly cherished as it is explicitly one of the things that keep me interested during his class.

 Sadly, though not everyone can just appreciate the clemency of a genuinely nice teacher. Some students will perceive this as weakness and in turn, take advantage of the teacher's kindness. Mr. Walker, while being one of the most delightful, altruistic people that you will ever meet can still assert his dominance on his class in an effective manner. This leads into my next point of him being stern when he needs to be. He's not the type of teacher to get really mad at someone for being disruptive, but he’s not a pushover either and would just let you get away with it. He’s in a very delicate balance between the two which allows him to simultaneously call someone out while also making sure that they don’t do it again due to his stern tone. This is most likely why I have not witnessed any major problems in his class either between students or between him and students. This feature maintains a safe environment within the classroom which makes sure that we learn the maximum amount of information without disruptions and creates a generally better class atmosphere.

 For my last point, I just want to create a picture in your head. Wake up at 6:00 AM, go to school, teach all day with some breaks in between. Go through more than a hundred students throughout the day, stay after school to do grading and by that time it's around 3 to 4 PM and you just got finished, but what about the other teachers. That special breed of educators who take an extra 1 to 2 hours out of THEIR personal time just to have study sessions with their students while having one of the least paid major professions in the world. I don’t know a lot of people with the sheer patience to do such a thing, but somehow my teacher Mr. Walker makes it work and does so much more. I participate in afterschool athletics, but my practice starts about an hour after the bell rings for dismissal so I use this time to study for future tests and such. So one day I decided to go to his class in order to study for his upcoming civics test, and I had no idea that he was having a full on study session with about 10 other students! So while all the other teachers were tending to their own work, he took time out of his day to help others. But, this isn’t even the best example of this! On the day before our midterms and finals, he arranges a day where he rents out a spot in Panera Bread and lets the student go there and study with him and with each other, and when I participated I forgot my wallet so he gave me some of his food. Who else do you know who is doing that? If that isn’t just an unfeigned act of benevolence worthy of this award I don't know what is.

 In conclusion, Mr. Walker is more than a teacher. He’s a benefactor, a samaritan, a mind-molder, a disciplinarian and so much more. To return to the quote, “Don’t Let Bozos Grind You Down”, I now understand what it means. It means that you shouldn’t let the negatives of life control you; the overwhelming nature of school, disrespectful classmates,  and lack of personal time. Instead, face them head on! He taught me to instead of being worried about the next test suck it up and push through, when you're faced with a bully don’t sit back and let them get away with it, tell him off and when your schedule is all backed up you need to improvise and push through. This is why I nominated Mr. Walker for teacher of the year.