When it came to picking classes for our junior year, like most kids, we entered AP European History with the promise of receiving an A or a B. But then the class became more. What we thought would be an easy class turned into an educational quest.

On the first day of class, we sat down to learn that we would be taught history backwards. We thought this was the most absurd thing ever. We argued the stupidity of this system with him for the entire first week of school. But Mr. Reichle strongly believed this way of teaching would work. He spent hours of his summer rearranging his curriculum to fit this new style of teaching. Although our first test scores weren’t the greatest, Mr. Reichle wasn’t about to give up.

Mr. Reichle’s class is completely lecture based. To most students, this style is extremely boring. But to students in his class, it’s a rollercoaster of suspense, entertainment and chuckles. One day when learning about the enlightenment, Mr. Reichle told us a story about how he used his recently born, twin’s cord blood and sent it to a warehouse in southern Florida. This was an insurance plan (if his children ended up having a serious childhood disease). Somehow Mr. Reichle makes his personal stories connect to what we are learning about.
Mr. Reichle always has a plan for the class. Every day, he is prepared and knows exactly how long he can spend on each power point slide or reading activity. This leads to a nicely balanced flow in the classroom.
Outside of school, he coaches basketball and is very active in the community. Mr. Reichle brings all sorts of snacks and drinks into school and donates all proceeds to an organization called Honor Flight. This allows World War 2 veterans to go to Washington D.C to see the WW2 museum for free. Organizing his classes, coaching basketball, and doing charitable work makes him a great role model to all the students at Arrowhead High School.
Mr. Reichle deserves to be educator of the year for his creativity in the classroom, his strive to connect with each student, and his eagerness to help others.