In my years of roaming through private, charter, and public schools (before I began to homeschool), I have not met many teachers who are wholly dedicated to their students. All teachers sacrifice, I suppose, but most do not do it out of love or devotion to their pupils. I’ve seen enough working styles of teachers, from those who are lazily casual to busily overwhelmed, but I have rarely detected a hundred-percent dedication. Recently, it is at the weekly classes at Eastside Academic Studies, my “school for homeschoolers,” have I encountered some people with whole responsibility to teaching and working, adults who care deeply for the needs of their students and have a genuine interest in their wellbeing.
That is exemplified by the English teacher, Mrs. Marlys Roos, who this year has been teaching four high school classmates and me AP Language and Composition.
I was first impressed with the fact that her teaching would not be cookie-cutter style – same, bland, and boring year after year. She was smart. She did not expect to teach cheaply as if we were mass-produced products required to pass a certain standard - an attitude all too common in schools these days. We were humans, the individuals that were in the process of being built for whatever future we faced, and she treated us as so. She took time to know us individually.
At the same time, though, her underlying motive was service to her Lord, showing not only in her prayers for all of us in the start of every class session, but also in her devotion to her work. Every assignment, I could see, was thoroughly investigated, dissected, analyzed, evaluated, so that she could give us high-quality feedback and constructive criticism. To her, duty didn’t stop at the end of the school year, it stopped at the end of her student’s life. Thus, she took her work seriously, proper for anyone who fears God.
Because she is moderately (not impossibly) hard on her students I think it made her underappreciated. Mrs. Roos was not one to give an “easy A.” Yet that is the work God expects us to do – our best – and thus she is only looking for right direction inside of us. Additionally, she was more than willing to present a Plan B when a student needed her help, willing to take time outside of the original class time when we couldn’t make the once-a-week sessions.
By sharing what she’s like through stories and opinions in our class conversation (as opposed to monologue), she connected with us. She cared for us.

I sum it up like this: she gives her best for God and her students. I praise and thank the Lord for a teacher like her!  

Full Name: Mrs. Marlys Roos

Position: English/Study Skills Teacher

Educational Program: Eastside Academic Studies