Mr. Vento
By Emily Biwer

I don’t know how many times I can tell you just how much you have done for me. Going into 8th grade at North Shore Middle School, I had always disliked math and school. As a kid I saw no use of it and had no passion to go and get good grades. In math especially, I would always get B’s or C’s and I thought I was so stupid and wasn't smart enough.

Math wasn’t fun for me and I struggled with it. When I walked into your class though, I knew that it was going to be different and that you had an effect on the students - Your loud and energetic personality made it known that you cared for us and what you were teaching. You made the class engaged and entertaining, with the entertaining examples of the stuff we were learning, one time I distinctly remember is when someone was asking about graphing and rise/run, and you gave the example with a chair and your foot, you explained that you need to raise your foot before you move it to the chair, and you showed how it didn't work if you moved your foot and then up - causing the chair to flip over. Examples like this one still sticks with me today.

You definitely tell it how it is, and you are so honest, talking about life and stuff that's going on in the world. You would always tell Colin off when he didn't do his work or acting like the tough guy, trying to help him be a better person and pushing him to be a good student.

Playing chess with you was always so much fun as well. When we got our work done, you would let us play chess or card games with one another, and all of us looked forward to it. Trying to beat you in chess was fun (you were the one who taught me how to play in the first place). Doing this for us also made it so we had a reason to get our work done before the school day had ended.

You made me enjoy math for what it was and gave me a reason to go to school, to understand the importance of it. Because of you I actually really love math and excel in it. Even if we thought your teaching could be hard at times due to the topics being a higher level, I see myself even in junior year getting taught some of the things you had already taught us all the way back in 8th grade. I get B’s and A’s on a regular basis, and you have made me so much more confident in myself, showing me that I am smart if I want to be, and you helped me believe in myself so much. Thank you so much, for everything.