Teachers have been put to the test this year, adapting to hybrid learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic. To honor the educators who have made the biggest impact on the staff of The Rambler in our academic careers, this week’s question asked us to identify the best teacher we have ever had.

The best teacher I ever had was Mr. Gordon. He was one of my fourth-grade teachers all the way back in elementary at Grover Cleveland. If I remember correctly, I think he taught history and English. He was one of the kindest teachers I’ve ever had and was a very big reason into showing me that authority figures will respect you if you respect them back.

The best teacher I’ve ever had was probably Mr. Achille for freshman Algebra. He teaches at Prep and teaches mostly all subjects in math. He’s probably my favorite teacher because of his ways of getting through to students and making sure everyone understands. He may be strict, but it’s for the betterment in the long run when you’re doing well in his class. Mr. Achille teaches math but also some very valuable life lessons that I’ll definitely use later in life. 

The best teacher I have ever had is definitely Mrs. Quinn. I have been in her math classes here at Prep since my sophomore year, where I was learning advanced precalculus. Since then, I have remained her student in both AP Calculus and AP Statistics. She explains math very thoroughly and incorporates conceptual understanding into her lessons. Mrs. Quinn’s effective teaching style, paired with beneficial assigned Khan Academy lessons, earned me a 5 on my AP Calculus exam last year. While she is great at educating her students, she’s also a really sweet and funny person that always makes class interesting, sarcastic, and entertaining.  

My favorite teacher of all-time has to be Mrs. Baringger, or better know and Mrs. Bee. She was my gym teacher from kinder-step all the way up to 6^th grade at Iroquois elementary school. She was more than a teacher though. She’d let me come to the gym in the morning and kind of warm up for the day, and even allowed me to borrow some things from the storage room to have fun with outside of gym class or school. Beyond being my gym teacher, she was also my cross country coach in 8^th grade, making her one of my last coaches from Iroquois ever. I’m not sure that she’ll ever see this, but if she does, I’ll have to stop by my old school building and say hi and thank you for all the things Mrs. Bee helped me to accomplish and grow as a man.   

I personally have a lot of “favorite teachers,” but one that is pretty high up there is Mrs. Howell. She taught me geometry my sophomore year at Prep and ever since then she’s always been there to hear me complain. She made me feel like I wasn’t the only one having the problems that I was having, and that really helped me grow throughout the years. I can say without a doubt that I wouldn’t be where I am today without her advice. I usually stop by every once and a while and we catch up about school or any funny stories just to make the time go by. I definitely thank her for being a great teacher and dealing with me sophomore and junior year.  

My favorite teacher of all-time is Mr. McCall. Mr. McCall was my chemistry teacher my junior year at Prep. What makes Mr. McCall my favorite teacher is because he knows how to keep class fun while learning and working hard every day. Even though last school year got cut off of in-person classes, I still loved going to chemistry class every day. What makes me respect Mr. McCall is how he teaches at Prep and Villa every day because going back and forth is definitely not easy. 

The greatest teacher I have ever had is Mr. Hubert. He used incredibly effective methods to teach English in grade 9 at Prep. He is also an excellent journalism teacher.

My favorite teacher would have to be Ms. Bruner from Wattsburg Middle School. She was the 8^th grade English teacher, and I had her 1^st and 2^nd period. She was always nice to my friends and me, and her class was a lot of fun. She always had something new every week, and it was always a nice start to my day. She always pushed me to be better and always helped me with other work as much as she could.  

Tell us about your favorite teacher in the comments.