For a long time in my life, I didn’t like science. I still don’t like my science classes, from science 9 to physics this year. It is all boring. But something was different about science in 7th and 8th grade. No, it wasn’t the course. The reason it was enjoyable was because of one person.

Mr. Wagner.

Mr. Wagner was a relatively new teacher. The old science teacher my older brother had, had retired 4 years ago. So I couldn’t ask my brother for once about a teacher. He talked about how amazing his science teacher was and that this teacher had high expectations that he won’t live up to. Everyone who had Mr. Wagner would agree, he surpassed all expectations and what you can call a science class. A teacher who truly cared about his students, a teacher who everyone would have wanted growing up. 

His class never felt like a science class. We would listen to his record every class. All genres of music, even genres I wasn’t familiar with because back then I only listened to rap. He opened me to other genres, and today I still listen to rap, but I now listen to some indie, rock, pop, and EDM, along with others because he exposed me to other genres. This helped me grow more as a person, being willing to extend myself in places I wasn’t familiar with. 

Every month we would get into a big circle, not school related but to help us grow outside of school. He would have popsicle sticks with everyone’s name on it, and would randomly draw one from it, then another person and we would have to complement each other and not about their clothes or something basic like your nice. It would have to be deeper, something you have always noticed about the person and never were willing to tell them.

 it’s something so simple I wish other teachers would do. I looked forward to it even though I was and still am a nervous person because it felt personal and made us get out of our comfort zone for once in school. A class away from the usual science work and just growing as people and making us more social especially how our society is today with face-to-face interactions.

I don’t like science classes and probably never will. High school science classes have been the worst. But Mr Wagner changed all of that for me in 7th and 8th grade. More than just a science teacher, he felt more like a friend, an adult you could trust and it was the best to have a teacher like that.