Usually when you walk into a class and see a 5 foot 10 feet, 225 pound man purely from muscle, who is bald and has a five inch beard you’re usually scared. For the first few weeks of my sophomore year U.S. History class at south campus (the building for freshmen and sophomores) I was too scared to say anything because his figure was so intimidating.

But this is why I want to nominate Chris Herriot for teacher of the year. He is more than a teacher; he's a role model who loves to get a laugh from the class.

Mr. Herriot put me right up front in his U.S History class during my sophomore year. I thought this was a great idea and I would be able to pay more attention since I felt like in other classes I wasn't doing well since I would never get the notes down. Looking at his towering figure, I knew I didn’t want to be on his bad side since he could probably crush my skull in with one hand. But Mr. Herriot proved he is everything but intimidating. He is caring and wants success from his students.

He loves to joke around with his students to gain more interest in his classes. A student once asked him why he had a cane by his desk which he replied “I use this to wake up students” and proceed to demonstrate by hitting the leg of a desk with it. Every friday he would say something along the lines of “have a great weekend and remember not to get in trouble with the police i’d like to see you here monday”.

The year goes by and it comes to the last day of class where I know I’ll probably not have him as a teacher again and I was torn about it since I was doing amazing in his class and didn’t want to lose him as a teacher.

I’m now at north campus coming off of a horrible skiing accident during winter break that made me go through a splenectomy (surgery that removes your spleen) and I'm in the worst pain of my life. I now have a new class with Mr. Herriot (Global Relations) I arrive early since I was not allowed to carry my own bag for two months because of my surgery. I walk into class and he notices I had someone carry my bag and asked what I did, I told him about my accident and he called me a strong kid for being in school after all this happened. Although he probably didn't think much of it, what he told me made my week since it was mainly depressing since I was in so much pain, I now make sure I do my best in his class.

I think Mr. Herriot the 5’10”, 225 pound man should win this award since he is much more than intimidating. Mr. Herriot is a caring teacher who wants the best out of his students daily. Thank you Mr. Herriot for being an amazing teacher.