Educator of the Year, Mr. Townsend.

“He’s always smiling. What a creep!” I had thought. He’s always standing there out the door waiting for all his students to show up. “I hate his class!” I would say almost every day to myself. I didn’t really understood why but there was something that made me hate it. It couldn’t be his presence of course; it was just me being someone I was not. Noiseless and timid were the words that defined me at that moment.  But he made everything seem so thorny that many students would agree with me. Why? Well the fact that he would explain everything once is reason enough. I felt lost in his math world and I couldn’t find my way out. Suddenly, I realized that it was not my math teacher, Mr. Townsend, that one that made every insignificant problem seem so arduous. In reality it was my insecurities that made me detest everything about his class.
I’ve been in his math class for two years now.  During sophomore year I hated his class with passion.  I clearly knew that if I didn’t try hard I was going to fail it. But throughout the process of me almost failing his class I came to the conclusion that his class wasn’t so difficult.  The problem was within me. I never asked questions I intended to ask and obviously I never got an answer. Maybe it was his intelligence that made me feel dumb. I had thought that if I asked a question he was going to think that I was inferior to the rest. That was just in my head. He’s always telling us to ask any question we want.  In reality it was my fault because he did his job with full perfection.  Mr. T, like I sometimes call him, has a unique way of teaching. He’s not just an ordinary math teacher; you can also see him as a friend.
Mr. Townsend is a very outstanding and outgoing teacher. Not to mention the fact that he is very intelligent and brilliant. Without the need of a graphing calculator, Mr. T would rapidly solve problems in his head. His confidence is more than contagious. Thanks to him I felt more confident with myself while answering questions. During my first year in his class I rarely said a word.  This year I learned that no one is perfect and like he says, “It’s okay to make mistakes.”  What I really like about him is the fact that he gives his students credit for putting effort into the work even if it was completely wrong. In his class trying is the first step into annexing credit.
He expects the best from everyone. In his class you’ll never feel pressured or irritated because he explains everything with deep clarity. Mr. Townsend uses his time wisely and rarely gets off topic. He is available to all and ensures that we are all on the same page.  Hearing that a teacher is available during the weekend is not common as much as many students would like to hear it. Mr. T is willing to sacrifice his Sunday afternoons for anyone in his classes that needs extra help; even if no one shows up. I’ve stayed after school when I needed help because I knew that I was going to receive the help necessary for me to comprehend. I wanted to grow as an individual and that meant that I had to sacrifice part of my afternoons to learn and be prepared for class. The time I stayed after school paid off. In one test we took I got the highest grade. When I saw my score I felt extremely proud and couldn’t believe it. But what really made me feel proud were his words. He wrote, “Monica, keep up the hard work! It isn’t about the grade but about knowing you are capable of solving very difficult problems.”
Those words touched my heart. I had attained to grow as an individual and I learned how to be part of his math class. Thanks to Mr. Townsend I am not afraid to speak in front of the class or to speak my mind. I relish his class and try to learn as much as possible while I can. Now I feel confident and I ask as many questions as I have no matter if others think they’re dumb or ridiculous. I learned many things from his class and one was to not agitate about what others think because at the end there’s no one but you. I treasure everything he has taught me and I am looking forward into learning many more things. The environment in his classroom is like District 12, from The Hunger Games, we may feel lost and desperate but we always work together to find a solution to any problem. Without a doubt I nominate Mr. Townsend to be educator of the year. Thanks for everything Mr. Townsend.