Most people would say that 8th grade year is their favorite year in middle school. My amazing 8th grade homeroom and social studies teacher made my 8th grade year better. My teacher, Mrs. Warner, was fun, exciting, and an excellent educator. My class became so close with her; they were like my second family. We have so many fun memories in and out of the classroom. Not only did I have fun but I also learned so much. I know all 44 presidents by heart because of her. Now I’m in high school, and I already know a lot about what we go over in social studies thanks to her. Mrs. Warner is the kind of teacher that combines fun with learning; I always looked forward to going to her class.


Mrs. Warner’s way of teaching was a very helpful and exciting way to learn. We always got into the lessons, with her fun PowerPoints that she was always so proud of. We always had fill-in notes, so we did not have to write everything down. She made us practice good study habits that have prepared me for high school. One of my favorite things that we did in her class was, at the end of the year the students taught the class. We all had a different topic, for example mine, was World War II, and we were the teacher for the day. At the end of class we took a quiz on the material for a grade. She had good ways of teaching us that I will always remember.


There were so many small things that she did to make class enjoyable. At the beginning of class everyday we always had a “Stumper”. She would ask part of the class a question and who ever answered it correctly first won a prize for example five extra points on a test. She also had a candy jar, which was the best! During class sometimes she would ask “candy questions”, the questions were difficult, but the whole class would raise their hand and try to get the candy. Another thing that I remember about her is that she loved her cats; at the beginning of the year she gave us the names of her four cats. A few times she would ask their names, and if you said one, you could pick something out of the candy jar. I still remember the cat’s names today. One student drew a cat on the board, and each day the cat would get crazier and crazier. We called the cat Salty, and it stayed on the board for the rest of the year. I have so many memories from my 8th grade year; I really enjoyed her.


At my middle school we were involved in so many fundraisers and contests. The whole school would get involved, my class was always very competitive. One of my favorite fundraisers was Pennies for Pasta; you had to bring in as many pennies as possible. At the end of the week we had a ton of pennies. You could bring in bills and silver coins to subtract pennies for the chance of winning. Mrs. Warner brought in donuts, and we stood by our penny bucket and told the kids not to put their bills and silver coins in our bucket and we would give them a donut. It was a lot of fun, and in the end our class won and got a pasta lunch! We also took part in a contest to save the polar bears. We had to make a video and send it in. Although we did not win, we worked really hard on it, and our video was very good. The whole class got involved and everyone became very close friends. At the end of the year we had a teachers vs. kids softball game. The students won and at the end of the game we poured a bucket of ice water on Mrs. Warner. It was a lot of fun, but at the same time we knew it was time to leave.


The one thing that stands out to me about Mrs. Warner was that she was such an amazing person. She made my 8th grade year so special, and it’s something I will never forget. She taught me so much not only about social studies, but also about friendship. I can still remember the last day just before we were about to leave, Mrs. Warner was talking to us; she said that we really became a family. She began to tear up, and I did too. Her getting emotional really showed me that she loved us. This is why I am nominating her for the Educator of the Year because she has a special place for every student in her heart, and that is one of the best things a teacher can have. I really wish I could go back and relive my eight-grade year.