Mr. Achille, one of the most experienced teachers at Prep, recently received a Golden Apple award for not only his talents as a math teacher but his ability to be so helpful when it comes to the school community as a whole. Not enough people outside of the Prep community know about Mr. Achille,, and he deserves recognition for his efforts. 

Mr. Achille has been teaching for over 40 years at Prep, specifically in math. Along with other legends like the recently retired Mr. Peightal, Mr. Alexa, Mr. Daeschner, and others—they have it their life’s goal to make sure us high-schoolers succeed. However, Mr. Achille did not always think he would become a teacher.

“One day, I got a call from Prep asking about being a math teacher,” he said. “I had had no teaching experience at that time, but I accepted, and I loved it!”

Even though he’s seen so many changes go on throughout the school, like the gradual increase in reliance on technology to learn and do schoolwork, he adapted. And even now, almost 42 years later, he still continues to teach with the same passion and fire as he did when he first started.

He may be a little loud—something he does admit to—but it’s not out of anger, it’s out of his want for his students to learn, and truly understand the material he is presenting, and he is always available for any sort of math help, or just as a person to talk to. Like stated previously, he has been at Prep a long time, and his experience means he is capable of handling whatever any student may be dealing with. 

Despite being happy to have recently earned the Golden Apple award after being nominated by John-Michael Yurisic, a senior at Prep, he does not feel validated by it. Hilariously, he was more happy to have finally gotten it after teaching for so many years and not really receiving any major recognition. While it’s not all that’s important to him, he likes the idea of winning something like that. But, he is still going strong, and plans to teach for at least five more years before retiring for good. 

Mr. Achille is not only a good teacher but a good person as well, and he will surely be missed by the entire Prep community when he is done teaching.