Educator of the Year

“Goooodbyeeee” was one of the many slogans said by my favorite educator, Bernard Fisher. He would monitor us during our lunches, and whenever someone misbehaved, he would send them to the far wall of the lunchroom as a consequence, saying his most famous slogan. I went to the wall a few times. At the time I hated it, but now it’s as if I miss it. Mr. Fisher was the principal for St. Matthew’s Catholic School. I had him for 7th grade math. He made my middle school experience a very memorable one.

When I think of Mr. Fisher, kind, friendly, generous, and funny come to mind. Whenever you would pass him in the halls, he would always greet you with a loud “Hello”. He would always have a loud voice when he talked to someone. He could easily make you laugh as well. Whenever he would send the troublemakers away, he would do it so everyone else would laugh. Those were his intentions. He would also make statements that rhymed which I thought we pretty clever. For instance, he would say to those talking that shouldn’t be, “Why art thou talking”. Mr. Fisher had the best traits in a teacher which made him such a great educator.

One thing that I missed last year was how Mr. Fisher was always involved with the school. Our principal last year didn’t do much to be honest. You could see her in the hall and ask yourself, “Who is that”. She is nothing like Mr. Fisher. Mr. Fisher did everything he could with the school. He actually surprisingly went on the Dorney Park trip with our class. I mean, just hearing that the principal wanted to go to an amusement park with one of the classes was quite surprising. He even went on rides with the students. Now when I look back at the moment, I realize that he cared so much for us. Actually, the moment I realized he really cared for us was when he was at the All Saints 8th grade graduation. I mean, when people pointed him out, I was very surprised.

Mr. Fisher was no ordinary educator. In my opinion, most teachers just wait for one year to end and then they have to deal with another bunch of kids. Mr. Fisher cares about everyone equally. I bet that the kids at St. Mark’s all love him as much as we did at St. Matt’s. It must have been hard for him the last year at St. Matt’s, dealing with all the issues are such. It felt that he was fine with everything going on. He never showed any acts of aggression or anything like that; he was always happy and in a good mood.

Seeing Mr. Fisher at my graduation was really surprising, but I’m glad he was there. As I went to All Saints, I wished that he was the principal or at least a teacher. But knowing that he is happy at St. Mark’s and knowing that he still cares about us is what matters. I hope Mr. Fisher is having a good time at St. Mark’s and, I hope his students are treating him well. The least I can do is nominate him for Teen Ink’s Educator of the Year award.