There is no teacher I know who made me more eager to learn than Mr. Gnewuch, my government and geography teacher. His classroom was an oasis of wonderment and discovery. He was able to do something most teachers will never achieve; he made learning fun.

On my first day in Mr. Gnewuch’s class, he told us a story about when he was in high school. He had escaped his social studies classroom through a window out of boredom. It was then he told us his main goal was to make sure we never felt that way in his class.

I was lucky enough to have him for a block class. What is a block class? To most students it’s a class period that drags on for an unpleasant amount of time followed by another class period, the continuation of the torturous class- Not so with Mr. Gnewuch . With his daily updates on current events, joke of the day, and stories there was never a dull moment in his classroom.

Our classroom routine consisted of taking notes while he lectured us. Sounds pretty boring, right? Wrong! Sure, we took notes-lots of notes, but Mr. Gnewuch taught us to take pride in our note taking. I certainly did. At the end of the semester, I took his notebook home and quizzed my family and friends on my new found knowledge. My notebook from his class is still sitting on my shelf surrounded by all my favorite books to this day.

Mr. Gnewuch is full of activity. He is a football coach, track and field coach, stays after school to supervise the weight room, and amongst all that a new father. Football may seem like a big part of his life but he knows the difference between practice time and class time. I remember when he threatened a varsity player’s position when he was severely slacking in his class. He said something along the lines, “If you’re not disciplined enough to complete your homework, how are you disciplined enough for the team?” In the classroom he is nothing more than a teacher who will always put his students’ needs first. He takes the time to know each and every one of his students and strives to make sure they succeed.

Mr. Gnewuch is my favorite teacher. I will always respect him. He defied the impossible. He made my learning experience fun-filled and exhilarating!