On the morning of my first day of sixth grade, I was not happy. I thought I was in for another long, painful school year. Many of my friends and fellow classmates were excited and thrilled, but to me, it was as if my dear, beloved summer had been taken away from me, just like that.
As I trudged into the first hour of that school day, I was caught off guard by a friendly, “Good morning, Mr. Wilman! How are you today?” I turned to see the jolly, smiling face of Mr. Sturm, my teacher for that year. I had seen him happily strolling around the school in the years before, but never really met him before. He was nearing the end of his teaching career, yet there was no evidence of that. In that moment, I was given the impression of a younger, fresher teacher, who still loved what he did and everything about it. Something about that simple greeting brightened my day, and I knew at that moment this school year just might be better than I had previously thought.
Immediately, I began to take a liking to Mr. Sturm. He is a husband, a father, a dog lover, a pheasant hunter, a Brewer’s game vendor, and a sensational teacher. Everytime he teaches , he intrigues me and everyone else in the class. He helped encourage me that school can be a fun experience that makes learning easy. He was as enthusiastic and captivating as a game-show host. Subjects that usually bore me to sleep were actually interesting! Mr. Sturm was also a walking encyclopedia. I felt as if every time a different topic came up in class, he always had his own little bit of information to throw in. From ancient Greece to hunting pheasants with his dogs, there was always an interesting fact or story to go along with it.
One of the most memorable experiences of having Mr. Sturm as a teacher, besides getting rewarded with cow candy, is when we read, “Danny, the Champion of the World.” There was much to do with pheasant hunting in that book, and Mr. Sturm could definitely relate. From there he would compare his own experiences of hunting pheasants to those in the book (the tales of him and his dogs never failed to entertain). There was also the time the entire grade competed in our own Greek Olympics, and Mr. Sturm dressed up as Zeus. I felt as if these types of fun times helped me better enjoy the learning process.
As that first day of sixth grade came to an end, I had felt quite different than earlier. It is not easy to give a class a worthwhile educational experience while keeping everyone entertained and invested in the task at hand, but Mr. Sturm passed this test with flying colors. I knew then that I was in for a educational, fun-filled school year. I was ecstatic for what was to come next, and I owe a great deal of that to Mr. Sturm.