Sophomore year at Arrowhead High School always presents itself as a bit of a challenge. Each student goes into the year absolutely terrified of what lays ahead: biology, important testing, and speeches. As mere 15 and 16-year-olds, the aspect of public speaking is something that sent us running.
The first day of school is filled with first impressions – one of the most important is learning who your teachers are. It wasn’t until I walked into the last room on the right that I realized what a treat I was in for.
Ms. Sharp started off and braved her class of 18 by stating the usual teacher syllabus – grading, tardy, and curriculum policies. The entire class had thus forth expected nothing more than to sit and relax for the remaining forty minutes of the block class. However, the entire class was as shocked and amused when she went into describing just how strange she was. Ms. Sharp proceeded to state how she would make random noises while forgetting she had a class in the room and always started off the day with the most random topics. Despite the fact that each student was petrified about the idea of performing his or her first speech, Ms. Sharp sent us all off with a laugh and a warm feeling.
If there was one thing Ms. Sharp helped me with, it was coming out of my shell. She is like the compilation of all the eccentricity we each have, but hide. At the start of sophomore year, I was a timid 15-year-old who thought giving a speech in front of the entire class would end my life and sentence me to a full year of humiliation. However, by the end of the year, I ended up becoming a confident 16-year-old who was able to give speeches with the slightest of ease.
Ms. Sharp is the single teacher I’ve had who believes being different is key. She encourages all of her students to be themselves and ignore exactly what other people may think. A key example of this is Ms. Sharp herself – she is unafraid, persistent, and confident. She not only taught us how to speak up in class, but also how to be our own teachers by informing others through our speeches.

Not only does Ms. Sharp teach her sophomores how to be excellent speech presenters, but she also makes Shakespeare an interesting subject. She believes in throwing a creative and fun tone to everything she says and teaches in a way that each student can comprehend.

Ms. Sharp deserves to be the recipient of this award because she not only teachers her students, but transforms them into the best they can be. After all, had I ended up with any teacher other than Ms. Sue Sharp, I’d still be the timid girl I was a year an a half ago.