I have never had a strong background in science. For as long as I can remember I have hated science. Going into my senior year of high school I thought I made a terrible decision for signing up for chemistry. I thought I would be constantly struggling and this would be one of my hardest classes to get through. When I walked into Mr. Antony’s fifth hour chemistry class, I was nervous, I felt like everyone knew what was going on and I was lost in this room full of science. He handed out a stack full of papers and told us this is what we would be doing for the first unit. I was really overwhelmed and started to think whether I should drop the class or not. Thankfully I did not drop his class.
Mr. Antony is not like any other teacher. Mr. Antony is not only a general Chemistry teacher he also teaches AP Chemistry. This can be intimidating for students like me because sometimes AP teachers expect more from their students. However, by the second day of class Mr. Antony had known every students name. This really surprised me because it showed me that he took the time to get to know each student. Everyday Mr. Antony would take the time to ask every single student if he/she had any questions from the day before, before moving onto the next lesson. If a student has a specific question he wouldn’t mind delaying his lesson plans just to re-teach the material. Every single day before class ended, he would encourage students to stop in for help if they needed it. He would announce his free periods, and it really impressed me that he would give up his lunch to help students out.
One day I was after school for a sports practice and I noticed someone leaving the building and walking towards the employee parking lot. I kept watching this person and finally noticed that it was Mr. Antony. I then asked my coach what time it was and she informed me that it was 4:30, I couldn’t believe it. Mr. Antony not only works hard all day working with students, he even gives up his personal time to help a student.
Before the first semester ended I got my schedule for the next semester. I was really upset to see that I would not be in Mr. Antony’s class anymore. I tried to get my guidance counselors to change it, but they refused. I decided to ask Mr. Antony if he could somehow change the guidance counselor’s minds and put me in his class. He informed that he has no say of who can and cannot be in his class. He explained to me that if it was his choice he would have every single student from first semester classes are in his second semester classes. He reassured me that I would do great in chemistry second semester, but if I ever needed help that I could come in and he would be more than willing to help me out. I felt like this really said something about Mr. Antony. He not only cares about his present students but he cares about his former and many other students. Mr. Antony deserves this award not only because he is a dedicated helping teacher, but he cares about people, he goes out of his way to make sure every student is happy, and that is what a good teacher is all about.