I would like to start this off by thanking all school teachers because they wouldn’t be doing their job if they didn’t care about us. Honestly, I wish this essay could be about all of my teachers over the years. But if I had to choose one, I would pick Mr. Thomas; he was my 8th grade social studies teacher. Coming to AI from Stanton was a little nerve racking considering I didn’t know anybody there, but Mr. Thomas made it a lot different for me. He was the best teacher I ever had.
       

Mr. Thomas was a very funny guy. He would always crack jokes and make fun of students from time to time. He even was best friends with our science teacher, Mr. Hill, and we would pull class pranks on each other, and honestly it really made both classes fun. From when I started in his class, I felt we had a connection. An example could be we both play the drums, and he even played in a band and was really good. Besides being funny I really felt he cared about education a lot.
             

I felt that besides all the jokes he really cared about us learning. If someone wasn’t doing so hot in his class, he seemed concerned about it and was always willing to help them. He was getting us ready for high school, and he sure did a good job at it. He gave us a good size workload but not too much. He did it for the good of us, and I was really sad when I had to leave his class.
             

I know that seems childish, but I honestly was sad to not be in his class anymore. When I left his social studies class, I had science with Mr. Hill who like I said was best friends with Mr. Thomas, and they would call each other’s classes and joke around sometimes. I would talk to him every morning when I walked by, and we talked about drums and things like that. At the end of the year he sent me a letter and told me that I was one of the top grades in his class. He wanted me to pick a quote from history for his next class and put it on the ceiling, and he said he would continue this for the rest of his teaching career. He also asked me to come see him from time to time and let him know how I’m doing. This really touched me because this goes beyond what you would expect from a teacher.
                

All in all, I felt a lot more prepared for high school after having the honor of being in his class. He made class fun with jokes and things, but he also really made sure we did enough work to prepare us for high school. His class surely wasn’t easy; he knew that and recognized the people who did exceptional in his class. I feel that he went beyond the expectations of a teacher and really made me ready for high school and life. That makes him the best teacher I ever had. And my nomination for the educator of the year award.