“You see that mountain right there?” Mr. L said as he pointed, first to the poster hanging down from the wall and then to the painted tiles on the ceiling that former students had painted that depicted a steep and rigid mountain. “As of right now, at this very moment, you all have started your journey up the mountain. By the end of year, I want all of you to be able to say, I made it to the mountain top. It’s not going to be easy, not by far. You are going to have to put in the work to get all the way to the top. But I can promise you this, if you are willing to put in the work to get there, I am willing to stop at nothing to help you get there…” This was the speech every single 8th grade student heard on the first day at Skyline Middle School. And I was no different. It was a speech given by Mr. Lingenfelter to motivate the new 8th grade students to strive for greatest and to be the best they could be.

Mr. L was the coolest, funniest, and outright the best teacher I have ever had. I can remember him saying on the first day, “Right now I am being Mr. Lingenfelter, the uptight, strict and just plain old mean, but after today I’m going to be Mr. L, the fun, cool, and laid back guy.” And he was not lying when he said that. From that day on he was the chillest guy I probably have ever met. Don’t get me wrong, though, just because he was laid back and didn’t yell a lot doesn’t mean we didn’t work in his class. In fact, we were always doing work in his class. But the difference between Mr. L’s work and another teacher’s work is that his was always fun. Whether it was completing a work sheet, taking notes, or even reading out of the textbook (which he hated as much as we all hated it), he always found a way to make it fun.

Walking into Mr. L’s room is like walking into a museum. Not only are the walls completely lined with posters of historical figures from JFK to Lincoln to Washington, he has an actual exhibit set up of artifacts of numerous people and things. Some are one-of-a-kind things, others are very rare to find. Mr. L estimated the value of his collection at about $50,000. But the thing is, it’s not a collection of things he knows nothing about. He could probably tell you anything and everything of every single piece of his collection. That in itself shows the passion for what he does. I think that had a big part in why his class was so fun. He actually enjoyed what he was teaching and had a deep passion for everything he taught. For example, when we were learning about the Boston Massacre, we didn’t just read from the textbook and write notes and take a test on it and forget what we learned the day after the test. Instead, we actually acted out the trial that was held. We did everything from the lawyers cross examining each other, to the jury deliberating and everything in between. Mr. L even dress up as the judge that presided over the case, wig and everything. I don’t know how the other social studies class learned about the Boston Massacre that year, but I do know for one thing it wasn’t by having a real trial in the classroom.

“Don’t be a bump on a log, be somebody, do something with your life,” are just some of the words of encouragement everyone received when they were struggling. Mr. L was full of sayings like that. His two favorite, ‘Don’t be a bump on a log,’ and ‘show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.’ He even had a real piece of log with a huge bump on it sitting on stool just inside the door so every time you walked in or out of the classroom you were reminded not to be a bump on a log. But his favorite saying was ‘show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future. He liked it so much he had it hung up in multiple places around the room, amongst the dozens of other sayings he always used. I don’t think that it was the sayings that stuck to me the most, but that he always had something positive to say to someone when they were down or struggling or if they just needed a little pick-me-up. If you didn’t walk out of his room every day with a smile on your face, it was either because he was absent that day or you have no sense of humor. That in its self makes him very unique.

“And now I can officially say to the Skyline Middle School class of 2013, that you have all made it to the mountain top,” Mr. L said as he addressed the whole 8th grade class at the graduation ceremony. “You guys are now 9th graders, but it seems like just yesterday that I was giving you the speech I give all my 8th graders when they first step foot into my room. Thank you for the great memories you are leaving me with, and I hope to see you all in 10 years.” As I walked out of the gym, I thought back on everything he had done to make my 8th grade year so special, and why Mr. Robert Lingenfelter is a one-of-a-kind teacher. And this is why I think he deserves to be the Educator of the Year.