Starting my sixth grade class, back in 2010, I was nervous like every other student. I had no idea how much harder it was going to be from the previous year, which was making me overwhelmed.

At 9:00 AM, I was presented to my teacher Mr. Rueter, my main teacher, as well as my language arts, social studies, and math teacher. He was wearing a tight dress shirt, tan dress pants, and a big white smile--as he welcomed me into his class. I had a feeling this class was going to be a thriller. 

Mr. Rueter was optimistic, and he never looked at the bad side of things--this made him an enjoyable man to be around. Each year, our school has a field day were each class competed against each other in activities like tug-a-war, catching bean bags in a blanket, etc. Our class wasn’t the most athletic one in the grade, but Mr. Rueter continued to encourage and motivate like we were winning everything.

When it came time to take a test and do homework, he helped each student figure out what he or she needed to work on. No one left class confused. 

Mr. Rueter would put us (the students) first on his priority list; if we weren’t happy, he wasn’t satisfied and would do everything in his power to help us.

He spent hours researching ways to make the students more comfortable and increase their studies. He then came to school and asked the class if anyone had a couch that was not being used. Surprisingly, a girl in my class had one and we ended up bringing it into our classroom. We acted like little kids on the morning of christmas, but our gift was the glorious couch!

At the end of the year, Mr. Rueter and I made a funny deal that he could shave my head, and so he did. It was something fun that I had in mind and he was all in for it. I remember him constantly saying, “Your hair is so sweaty, this is impossible!” Shaving my head after gym class may not have been the best idea! This proved that Mr. Rueter had a goofy side to him. It was like the cherry on top of the ice cream; the ice cream symbolising all the memories I have with him.

Mr. Rueter was a major influence in my childhood, and showed me what maturity, respect, and humility was. With that being said, I am nominating Mr. Rueter for being the best teacher.