I’ve had a lot of great teachers throughout my school career, so it is hard to just choose one teacher to write about, but if I had to choose one, it would be my middle school Spanish teacher Senora Bryk. She has all the great qualities that make a really good teacher.

She always had fun ways to teach every day, from telling us a joke before we could come into the classroom to having us do a Friday cheer every week. She would put jokes and memes in Spanish on the smartboard for “Haha Jueves” (which means “Haha Thursdays”). We would do dances on Fridays for “Baile Viernes” (which means “Dance Fridays”) and she would also do “Musica Miercoles” (which is “Music Wednesday”). She was always energetic and came in with a smile on her face, and you could tell she was excited to teach the class. During class, she would come up with interesting ways to teach the lessons to keep us engaged. One day she had us act out the scenes from a pirate book we were reading. Another day, she had us watch music videos about silly things like the names of the animals, and she would make the whole class laugh randomly. You were never bored in her classroom!

Senora Bryk always wanted what was best for her students. She would help them in any way possible, whether it was giving them extra help during class with something they were struggling with or letting them come up to her classroom during lunch to get some extra help. She was always there if you needed her even if it wasn’t school related. People felt comfortable talking to her. She didn't just care about her students grades but their overall well-being too. She always wanted what's best for her students.

Senora Bryk helped her students understand the language really well, and she  taught us not just the language, but also about the culture and customs in Spanish speaking countries. For example, around New Years she would do the Spanish tradition where you try and stuff 12 grapes in your mouth before the countdown to the New Year ended, one grape per second. Something else she did with us, was when we were learning about Dia de los Muertos (“Day of the Dead”), she taught us about how they celebrate the dead and offer them food and gifts. She was also very good at explaining things in ways that made things easier to understand. 

Teaching isn’t always an easy job, but some teachers find ways to be really good at what they do, and Senora Bryk is one of those teachers. She taught us in creative ways that helped us learn, but she also made it fun at the same time, so it didn’t even feel like we were learning. She made us feel cared about and always made time to help us with school work, or just be someone you could talk to. I’m thankful for all the great teachers I’ve had, and I think Senora Bryk is definitely one to remember, so I nominate her for Teen Ink’s Educator of the Year.