Educator of the Year is a reward that is given to extraordinary people. Mr. Michael Flannigan has always been inspirational to me as a great teacher, and I would like to nominate him as Educator of the Year. I have known Mr. Flannigan for three years. Mr. Flannigan began as my Cross Country coach when I was in seventh grade at All Saints Catholic School in Elsmere, Delaware. Coach Flannigan, as I call him, deserves and is worthy of such an honor. Mr. Flannigan has always been a great teacher, a wonderful coach, and overall a great friend.


Mr. Flannigan was a substitute teacher at All Saints Catholic School. Even though he did not teach every day, he was at school every day to say good morning to all the students. Mr. Flannigan was well known by all the students. He would volunteer at the school even if he did not need to teach. He would help at lunch and recess and with any project that was in need of being done. If we had Mr. Flannigan as a substitute, we knew it was going to be a great day. He taught the subject but always added something extra to the lesson to make it enjoyable. Mr. Flannigan is a very smart man and would add a lot of humor to his teachings. He was well respected by all students, and students did not act out in class with him as they might with other substitutes.

Mr. Flannigan was my cross country coach and track/field coach. I had never run before, but he made me feel like part of the team. He worked with me to better my form without ever getting upset and stayed with me long after others had gone home. He saw potential in me that I did not even know that I had. When I saw him at school, he would ask me how my training was coming and would give me suggestions. He even paired me up with his older son to give me the motivation to try and catch up to him to increase my speed. I decided to try out for high jump, and he set up extra practices for me and others so that we could learn from others that had already been doing high jump. He did not only have the practice sessions for our school but invited any other Catholic schools that were interested in learning the sport. He made me realize that sportsmanship is really not to train against your opponent but with them. We all pushed each other to jump and get the bar higher not only in practice but at the track and field meets.

Mr. Flannigan pushed me and others to do our best not only in running but with the Chess Club and in my academics. If it was not for Mr. Flannigan seeing my potential, I probably would not have stuck with running and therefore would not have ran in the University of Pennsylvania Relays in which our team came in first place. Mr. Flannigan helped with the chess club as; he was with me during the tournaments. Mr. Flannigan gave me the hope that I could do better academically and along with my new found running skill that I could get a scholarship and possibly get into a great college where I could continue with do track and field. Mr. Flannigan was not only the coach but my mentor as well as an inspiration to all. Sadly, he has a hip problem in which causes him to limp as well as gives him a lot of pain. We would look at him and think that if he is out here helping us to achieve while enduring his pain then we should be able to run a little more or a little faster.

I think that Mr. Michael Flannigan is great teacher, coach, and mentor and for this reason and many more I would like to nominate Mr. Flannigan as the Educator of the Year. He has helped me and others not only in school but on the field. He is a great person who gives of his time and energy to help others do their best. He knows a lot, he likes to teach, he is funny and he keeps your attention. He is a good motivator who is not strict but we listen and get the work done not only for him but for ourselves. He cares about us and we care about him. ..That is an Educator of the Year.