If you’ve gone through the public school education system, than you’ve probably seen it all. Bad teachers, good teachers, apathetic teachers, teacher who cared too much, or teachers who just couldn’t teach.

Growing up in the public school education system, I made a lot of observations while progressing from grade to grade. I had phenomenal teachers that helped make me the man I am today, and I want to talk about what made them so great.

Good teachers recognize that their students aren’t just another name on a piece of paper.

This is especially crucial in classes that are not for the advanced placement kids. I myself was one of those sub par guys in math. Year after year I’d sit in math classes and stare off into space, finding it so hard to focus due to a lack of interest and motivation.

However, my sophomore year of high school really stuck out to me. I was taking geometry and, like most years, before I even went into to the first day of class, I was immediately pessimistic about the upcoming class. But there was something different this year that would radically change my attitude towards class and my overall aspirations as a student and a future contributor to society.

It was the first day of class and my teacher; Mr. Huerta, welcomed me with a smile just as he did every student. Once all the students were in their seats and he began to talk about the upcoming year, he encouraged us and set us straight about who he was and what this class was going to be like.

I’ll never forget him saying, “I love my family, I love my kids (referring to his students), and I love my job”. Right off the bat I had the utmost respect for him because I could tell this guy actually cared about us. He didn’t see us as numbers on a sheet, but as people who are just trying to make it.

For the remainder of my time in that class, I excelled greatly. I learned math that I still remember to this very day; I had the opportunity to find out that I enjoy teaching as well (He gave me the opportunity to help some friends with their class work in class,) and I made an A for the first time in years in a math class.

Mr. Huerta didn’t motivate me to do well in his class by writing some equations on a board and telling me to do what he does. Rather, he motivated me by going the extra mile and showing interest in my life, giving me autonomy in the classroom to work independently or help others who were struggling. I wanted to work hard for Mr. Huerta because I knew he was working hard for me.

Good teachers push their students and teach life lessons.

School is hard work, and it ought to be. Mr. Beal, My English teacher junior and senior year, was all about giving hard work.

I had him for two years and his classes were the hardest I had to take in high school. It was advanced placement English. Although, I hardly felt like I was advanced, Mr. Beal brought out the writer in me that I never knew. He didn’t do this by handing me grades. In fact, he gave me some horrible grades on multiple papers, and in the moment, I resented him for it.

I never handled failure well, but it was those failures that boosted my drive to be a better writer and by the end of those two years with him, I was making As in his class.

Another thing that I resented about his class but in the end saw the importance of were his tests. He only gave essay tests, and they always made me think. Testing and thinking were not in my area of expertise, so this was a problem. This is just one issue with today’s public education system. It doesn’t teach us to think, it teaches us to copy down what we heard. But Mr. Beal didn’t go by some administrative curriculum. He had his own set of rules and the sooner you figured that out, the easier it would be to pass. Sure, there was comprehension involved, but a lot of his questions involved comparing and contrasting or synthesizing material together.

Instead of squandering our creativity, he helped make it flourish. It made me think, and it made me a better person and student in the end. Thank your teachers that go the extra mile to make you go the extra the mile.

Good teachers know how to console their students.

I’m a pretty happy go lucky guy in class. I like to smile, I like to laugh, and I enjoy participating and feeling like I actually understand what’s going on. However, there are days where I’m not that guy.

One day in particular that stood out to me in high school was junior year during algebra 2. It was a year after having Mr. Huerta, and since he helped me actually find ways to enjoy math, I was doing pretty well in this class, not to mention I got another great teacher, Ms. Lanoux.

Like I said, I was a generally cheerful guy, but this one particular day, I was down in the dumps. It could have been for a number of reasons; I don’t particularly remember why I was so down.

All class, I just stared into the abyss of nothing and threw a pity party in my head for a problem that was definitely not a big deal, but at the time felt like the end of the world (and if we’re being honest, we’ve all been there). The bell finally rang. I quickly grabbed my stuff and began to walk out the door. Ms. Lanoux caught me just before I could leave and asked me what was wrong because something very clearly was wrong. Everyone was gone at this point and being the fact that she was a teacher who actually cared, I told her what was up. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell you what she said back.

In fact as I was writing this, I thought about what she might have said for a long time, and I just couldn’t remember. But that’s not what was important to me. What was important to me was her thoughtfulness. I remember us talking in the front of her classroom, I remember it not being a discussion about her feeling sorry for me, or encouraging my self pity but rather her encouraging me to get back up and move on because there’s too much at stake for me to be like this. Life’s hard. Times are tough, have a little dignity and get over it.

There wasn’t any other teacher that day that came to my side and asked how I was doing, and quite honestly, that’s okay. I didn’t want to be talked to, but sometimes it does feel good to know that somebody cares. She knew my personality, she knew something was up and she wanted to help. And it’s not like that was a one-time thing; I watched her console multiple other students who were going through their own struggles. It’s been years since that conversation, but I still remember what it meant to me.

Being a teacher is truly an underpaid and underappreciated job in America. There are plenty of them that get hardly any recognition for their hard work. Thank all your teachers, even the teachers that were you think are boring, hard, or just not good teachers. I say this because they clearly aren’t doing it for they money, and it’s not a very glamorous job. There’s a certain level of selflessness involved with being a teacher and we need to understand and recognize that as we’re going through school. Be especially attentive and appreciative to your teachers that show interest in your life. They often times are pouring so much of themselves out for their students with nothing in return that I’m sure it gets hard to carry on some days. As students, you have the power to change their year completely by showing interest in their life and telling them you appreciate them.