It was the first day of fourth grade and I came in feeling uneasy. I had new math teacher and was expecting the worst. However, what I received was the most thoughtful, passionate, and creative teacher I have ever met.
Mr. Maclellan was his “adult name” so we all called him “Mr. Mac.” His classroom looked more like a man cave than a place of learning. It was filled with New England Patriot and Boston Red Sox posters, welcoming the sports fan in all of us. For me, being an athletic fanatic, it immediately eased my mind and made me feel more comfortable knowing we had something in common.

On the first day of school, he lectured us about the expectations for the year, until, suddenly he said, “Well, this stuff is boring. Who wants to sit in a circle and listen to me play guitar?” And before we knew it, he performed a VIP concert for just us, playing everything from “Brown Eyed Girl,” to “Mr. Bo Jangles,” and even some songs that he wrote himself. He saw how much we loved his performance and used it as an incentive when we did well on tests and quizzes.

“I’ll tell you what,” he said. “Every time we crush a test or quiz, I will play you a couple songs. How does that sound?”

So we crushed every single test and quiz after that year, making him go through at least a dozen guitar strings.
His abilities, however, were not just limited to a six-string guitar and his killer vocals. Mr. Mac was a brilliant teacher. It was like he wrote the book on how to motivate children. He would bring a childlike energy to every lesson which made it easy for nine and ten year olds to stay on task.

Initially, watching a 45-year-old bald man scamper around the classroom seemed obscure, but we could not take our eyes off of it. Then it hit me--I was understanding math more  than ever and it was because of his exuberance, and his ability to relate to us.

He used words like “dude” and “dudettes” and wore his Red Sox cap backwards at recess. It was the little things that set him apart from the other teachers and allowed us to relate to him.

However, it was his approachableness that really made him stand out. Most teachers at my old school gave off an authoritarian vibe, which intimidated kids. But Mr. Mac was not like that. We saw him as a friend that we could talk about anything to.

Every day after school, kids would line up to either tell him stories, ask questions, or say goodbye. Every response he gave was sincere and he seemed genuinely interested in what they had to say.

It did not take long until our similar interests brought us together. After school, we chatted about football, baseball, and he would raz me on how the Arizona Cardinals are inferior to his New England Patriots. He played his guitar every Friday night at a local pizza joint, and you’d think it was a class field trip with the amount of students there with their families supporting him. He would invite the students up to the stage to sing with him. We may not have sounded good, but it made us feel like we were dropping the new hit of the year.

Never have I seen a teacher that connected with students as well as Mr. Maclellan did. He always put the students in front of himself and nurtured us like a father.  I understand it is not easy for someone to overcome a 35 year age gap, but that is exactly what he accomplished.