What truly makes a teacher remarkable? Every school has them, teachers who not only teach but also inspire many students. In this article, I’ll give the spotlight to a few teachers here in Osbourn. Join me for the special teacher spotlight that honors their hard work.

To start off, we have Mr. Zenewicz, who teaches Sociology/Psychology and US History. When asking Mr. Zenewicz what inspired him to be a teacher, this was his response: “My mom helps kids with special needs, so she’s my inspiration.” It’s really incredible to have your own mother as your aspiration. Mr. Zenewicz has been teaching for 20 years now, but he didn’t start off teaching Sociology/Psychology and US History. Mr. Zenewicz started off as a paraprofessional back in Colorado. He became an aide for the kids who have special needs. “It is important to make kids successful and make them feel noticed,” he explained, regarding his teaching philosophy. Though Mr. Zenewicz has been teaching for 20 years, he said that he has 15 more years before he retires. Having Mr. Zenewicz’s Psychology class is very interesting because you learn many new things and have fun moments when learning about the human mind and behaviors.

Secondly, I’d like to introduce Mrs. Daley, who teaches History 2 and US/VA History. She has been teaching history for 5 years. I’ve asked her about how she would describe her teaching philosophy: “I’m annoying until students are successful; I’ll push you to be successful.” Here’s some advice that Mrs. Daley gave to students who think about choosing the same subject she teaches: “Be passionate about it because it will be easy to learn and teach.” One of Mrs. Daley’s best parts of being a teacher is seeing her students succeed, but having good moments also comes with bad moments. Mrs. Daley said that her bad moments are when her students don’t see their potential. Mrs. Daley is a really fun teacher, and she listed three words of her teaching style: entertaining, explainable (because she talks too much), and flexible. Even though Mrs. Daley can be a bit sassy, she can always bring a smile to your face and have you laughing.

A very fascinating teacher who is in charge of  OHS Talon is Ms. Miller. Ms. Miller is not only in charge of the articles (written by her Journalism 1 and 2 students), but she also teaches Broadcasting and Yearbook. “I went to college as a journalism major originally because I loved writing. My plan was to move to New York and write for a magazine like Vogue. I never really planned to be a teacher at all, but my advisor asked me to do some tutoring for athletes at my school who needed help with writing. I guess I did an ok job because he started encouraging me to take some education classes. So I ended up majoring in Journalism, English, and Education. I went on to get my Master Journalism Educator status, which involved studying a lot about student press law, writing techniques, and journalistic trends. Only 200 people in the whole country have the MJE status, so I was excited about that. I did still end up writing; I have lots of articles in Brides and Weddings magazine and some other publications as well. I have been teaching for 27 years,” said Ms. Miller, when asking her what aspired to become a teacher.

Ms. Miller’s classroom is a cozy and comfortable classroom; she has a bunch of pink and cutesy items. When you think about how teachers make their classes more engaging and fun, this was Ms. Miller’s response: “I try to give my students the freedom to write about things that interest them. I try to personalize my lessons based on each student’s needs that day. Like one student may need a mini-lesson on how to write a restaurant review, but another student may need to go over how to handle a sports interview.” It’s obvious that Ms. Miller loves to write, so of course I had to ask her what she thinks she would be doing if she weren’t a teacher: “Something with fashion or beauty combined with writing.”

Now moving on to the next teacher, Mr. Jenkins. Mr. Jenkins teaches Geometry and AFDA.  What inspired Mr. Jenkins to be a teacher was his family tradition: ” I come from a family of teachers. My Dad, my grandmother, uncle, and aunt were all teachers, so I guess you could say it’s a family tradition.” Mr. Jenkins has been teaching for 40 years, and his career comes to an end next year because he said he’ll be retiring next year. It’s sad for those students who have Mr. Jenkins as their teacher because he really is the most outstanding teacher a student could know. Mr. Jenkins’ classroom is always an adventure. I try to use laughter and have a positive and energetic attitude every day. A day without laughter is a wasted day.”

Have you ever wondered what led a teacher to come teach at your school? Well, Mr. Jenkins’ response was “A friend of mine was looking to move to this district, so I thought I would give it a try.” If it wasn’t for his friend, who knows where he’d be now, but good news because I’ve asked him where he thinks he would be if he weren’t a teacher. “I would probably be working in some field with computers, probably as a programmer.”

Showing students the Teacher Spotlight is a great way to show how much teachers do and how much they matter.  Think of it like a Hall of Fame for the teachers, showing off their hard work and how they make a difference. It reminds us that teachers are important in helping students learn and grow, like guiding lights for the future.

What teachers do you most appreciate? Who should we spotlight next? Tell us in the comments!