On the first day of eighth grade I remember walking into my new social studies classroom, Mr. Lingenfelter’s class. The first thing I said when I walked in was WOW. His class was full of posters of politicians, and historical figures. There was a life size cardboard cutout of our current President and vice president, Barak Obama and Joe Biden. Then there was the Jay Cheeseman learning center, which were shelves filled with antique historical items, and little figurines of things like boats and cannons and presidents. Then there was the judges stand that he built himself and we used it for lessons and during class. All of these things were there for the benefit of his students. I knew right away his class was going to be amazing, and it was.

Mr. L is one of the most inspirational teachers I have ever had. He made all of his students strive to reach the mountain top. The only way you could get there was by doing your best and being a hero to someone. He used to tell us that we were his heroes because we were all amazing students. I also remember Mr. L saying that his students were the reason he is a teacher, he loves being able to teach kids. I know for a fact that Mr. L wanted the best for all of his students; he believed in all of us. That really helped and motivated a lot of us even the students who weren’t doing well in school. He helped them achieve their goals. Mr. L was like a father figure to his students, he cared about all of us so much. That is a trait that not all teachers have, but it is important; it makes teaching and learning easier when the teacher cares so much for the students. If all teachers were like Mr. Lingenfelter, school would be so much more enjoyable!

Social studies was everyone’s favorite class, and we learned so much too! Our lessons were a lot of fun; they were simulations. I remember doing the Civil War; we were split into the North and South. There were 2 colonels, 1 for the North and 1 for the South, and we chose names and jobs as soldiers. We wrote journal entries as the soldiers and even made up rally calls. I learned about the Civil War in 5th grade but the amount of information I learned with Mr. L just blew that stuff away, and I had a lot more fun learning it with him too. Then there was the Puritan court lesson and the Boston Massacre and the Constitution. All of these lessons were simulations where each student had a role to act out. That’s also what made Mr. L an amazing teacher, not only did we learn a HUGE amount of information from each lesson and not only were they super fun, but everyone participated. That is a really hard thing to do sometimes but it always happened, Mr. L wanted to make sure that everyone had fun and was learning. I think he achieved this goal.

Another great characteristic that Mr. L has is his dedication to his students. Mr. L NEVER liked to miss school because he wanted to be there with us and teach us every day. I only remember him having a substitute twice in the entire school year! That is so amazing, even if he wasn’t feeling 100% he would be there because he enjoyed teaching his students. Also I remember when we went on the Washington D.C field trip, the other social studies class with a different teacher only had one thing planned for the entire day there. Those students just went to the Holocaust Museum and then were just allowed to do whatever for the rest of the trip. When we went to D.C, our whole day was filled with activities. First, we went to the Capitol building and took a tour. We went to the Lincoln Memorial, Arlington National cemetery where we saw the changing of the guards and JFK’s grave. Lastly we went to the Vietnam War Memorial. Mr. L made sure we learned the whole trip, and it was by far the best field trip I had ever been on. Another reason I say Mr. L is dedicated to his students is because he took the time to get to know all of his students and understand us so that he could connect with us better. Not all teachers do that; it would be great if they did though!

As you can see Mr. Lingenfelter is so deserving of this educator of the year award. He is the BEST teacher ever. I want to thank him soo much for being so great! Mr. L is an extraordinary person and an inspiration to me and all of his students. I will always remember him! I wish I could go back and be in his class again, just step into that room and get the same wow factor, just like on the first day of eighth grade. I was definitely right when I said his class was going to be amazing. It was the BEST class in the world!