All my life, teachers have told me I’d be able to succeed if I applied myself more. But not many ever made an effort to get me to apply. That is, besides my sixth grade teacher Mr. Sturm.

Shaping the minds of 40 pre-teens is not an easy feat, but Mr. Sturm was able to fill our heads with more knowledge than I ever thought possible--all while keeping us interested and excited to learn.

Looking back on my elementary and middle school years, it’s difficult to remember the curriculum I was taught or the teachers I spent months with. But, one thing for sure--I’ll never forget sixth grade at Richmond school with Mr. Sturm.

Not many middle schoolers are able to say they’ve mummified a real pheasant, reenacted the movie “Holes,” and participated in ancient greek Olympics. I, however, was lucky enough to do all of that and more because of Mr. Sturm.

Young students learn from hands-on activities, and Mr. Sturm used that to his advantage. It’s easy for teachers to hand students a textbook and assign them questions to answer, but that wasn’t enough for Mr. Sturm. From weekly science projects creating volcanoes and glaciers, to solving mummy mysteries outside, to museum field trips, we did it all.

For a busy man with a family, three dogs he absolutely adored, and frequent hunting trips, I can only imagine how difficult it was for him to provide us with these fun and unusual projects. But Mr. Sturm never complained, he never got angry, and he never settled for worksheets and textbooks.

But there’s a lot more to his amazing teaching style besides projects and field trips. Mr. Sturm also developed a personal connection with every student in the class, and made sure we knew he valued each of us as a person.

Every week, he read a riddle outloud and posted it on the wall of the classroom. Students would write down what they believed to be the answer, and every Friday, he would give a piece of his rare “cow candy” to each of the winners. I had never been eager to learn or participate but after months with Mr. Sturm, he had to give me my own separate jar of “cow candy” because of how many riddles I’d solved--which gave me a sense of pride and accomplishment that fueled my hidden drive to excel.

Not only did Mr. Sturm make each student feel valued, but he also never settled for anything less than satisfactory--an important life value I still carry with me today. I can’t even imagine how many times he told us “almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.”

One day, as my friends and I presented a model of a rock family in front of the class, we could not stop giggling and fooling around and it was obvious that we did not take the project seriously. After class, Mr. Sturm told us we needed to re-do the project and that we had a week to complete it. In that moment I was upset and angry that he made us re-do it, but looking back, I’m happy he didn’t allow us to get away with poorly done work that was not even worth being graded because it taught me that I should not settle for completing work that is below my capabilities. Back then I didn’t understand the importance behind this, but as I grew older and the thought came to mind, it hit me like a rock. 

I’m forever grateful for not only the basic sixth grade curriculum I was taught that year but also the important life lessons and values. That year was Mr. Sturm’s last year being a teacher (as he was going into retirement), and it was difficult for every student to say goodbye.

At the end of the year, the whole grade got together and had a giant end-of-the-year picnic to congratulate him on moving into the next stage of his life. I’ll never forget him gifting us his favorite classroom items on his final day of teaching as we were about to leave. He gave me a shiny plastic crown fit for a queen, and hugged me with tears in his eyes, saying “I know you’ll make me proud.”