Nature and Nurture

[This is a piece on my favorite teacher]

One of my favorite teachers is Dr. Lynch. He has taught me biology in 9th grade advanced biology, and in 11trh grade AP biology. I consider him a friend and someone I can always talk to, however, it wasn’t always this way. In 9th grade he was the scariest teacher I had ever had, and little did we know, he was merely toying with our minds. He told us of a giant, impossible, test we had coming up the day before winter break, or spring break (I don’t remember). We all studied for weeks knowing that we would probably fail. He kept telling us how hard it would be, and that he expected us all to fail. I woke up the morning of the test with a look of defeat on my face. I was terrified of what awaited me in that classroom that day. He called us all in, sat us down in the dark, and slowly handed out tests one by one, and face down. He then told us to flip over the tests and begin, and WHAM! It was a test on the Grinch! We were all shocked and extremely relieved. We watched the Grinch movie for an hour and leisurely filled out our red tests. He threw them out on the way out and wished us all a happy break. Dr. Lynch is my favorite teacher for always trying to keep me, and my slow reaction time, on my toes.

Authors Afterword:

My teachers from Kindergarten -10th grade:

Kindergarten
English: Mrs. Anthropolis
Math: Mrs. McNicholas
Science: Mrs. Burtnett
Art: Mrs. Spadaro/Mrs Reidlmeier
Gym: Mrs. Alexander
Music: Mrs. Kaesshaefer
Library: Mrs. Singer

First
English/Math/History: Ms. Carl
Science: Mrs. Burtnett
Art: Mrs. Spadaro/Mrs Reidlmeier
Gym: Mr. Erdmanis
Music: Mrs. Kaesshaefer

Second
English/Math/History: Mrs. Dzielowsgki
Science: Mrs. Burtnett
Art: Mrs. Spadaro/Mrs Reidlmeier
Gym: Mr. Erdmanis
Music: Mrs. Kaesshaefer

Third
English/Math/ History: Mrs. Dzielowsgki
Science: Mrs. Burtnett
Art: Mrs. Spadaro/Mrs Reidlmeier
Gym: Mr. Erdmanis
Music: Mrs. Kaesshaefer

Fourth
English: Ms. Romeu
Math: Mr. Stobaugh
History: Mrs. Fecker
Science: Mrs. Burtnett
Art: Mrs. Spadaro/Mrs Reidlmeier
Gym: Mr. Erdmanis
Music: Mrs. Kaesshaefer

Fifth
English: Mrs. Aichenbaum
Math: Mr. Burnett
History: Mr. Rentschler
Science: Mrs. Burtnett
Art: Mrs. Spadaro/Mrs Reidlmeier
Gym: Mr. Erdmanis
Music: Mrs. Kaesshaefer Sixth
English/Math: Mr. Brown
History: Mrs. Oneil
Science: Mr. McDoughnah
Art: Mrs. McGee-Barrett
Gym: Mrs. Alexander
Chorus: Mrs. Kaesshaefer
Language: Mrs. Master, Dr. Drufufka, Mrs. Peison-ziess

Seventh
English: Mrs. Jones
Math: Mrs. Ketler
History: Mrs. Aldridge
Science: Mr. McDoughnah
Art: Mr. McGee-Barrett
Gym: Mr. Mellor
Chorus: Mr. Fitzmartin
French: Ms. Bergiminie

Eighth
English: Mrs. Jones
Math: Mr. Brown
History: Mrs. Aldridge
Science: Mrs. Roberts
Art: Mrs. McGee-Barrett
Gym: Mr. Mellor
Chorus: Mr. Fitzmartin
French: Ms. Tyler

Ninth
English: Mrs. Dzeidzics
Math: Mr. Sperling
History: Mr. Payton
Science: Dr. Lynch
Foundation Arts: Mrs. Ruen, Mr. Schilling, Mrs. Noone
Gym: Mrs. White
Chorus: Mr. Fitzmartin
French: Ms. emery

Tenth
English: Teacher Fred
Math: Mr. Hitschler
History: Mr. Marks
Science: Ms. Davis
Art: Mr. Granger
Gym: Mr. Clarke
Chorus: Mr. Fitzmartin
Health: Ms. Coombs, Mrs. Foley
French: Ms. Kervision
Religion: Mr. Rickards

Coaches:
Monsieur Payton: Tennis
Mr. Charlie Brown: Water Polo
Mr. Kev Berkhoff: Swimming
Mr. Elkins: Golf

A good student must have a lot of good characteristics. These could range from intelligence, to pure moral fiber. I believe three characteristics stand out more than the others in truly defining a “good” student. These would be honesty, diligence with work, and a calm head on their shoulders.
To be a good student, and a good person for that matter, one must be honest. I pride myself in honesty and am usually very offended when I am accused of anything different. I enjoyed this honesty on last years chem. Examinations. Chemistry has nothing but take home tests and I was proud of myself to make it through the year without giving into temptation. At a school like penn charter the honor system is crucial to society and honesty is definitely a big component to a good student.
Diligence in work is a huge part of being a good student. If one doesn’t attempt to do their work diligently, they will not learn everything they possibly could. With the workload I have nowadays, my work is not always thoroughly done, but I do always try to complete it with a better understanding of the subject afterwards. I believe with diligence in work a student can’t help but to learn.
The third aspect I wanted to discuss was being a calm person. A student can’t strive if they don’t have their priorities in place and aren’t stressing out. My Biology teacher Dr. Lynch has been a good friend of mine since I had him in 9th grade. He is an amazing teacher and a phenomenal man. He wasn’t supposed to live into his late 20s due to a tumor in his brain. He survived miraculously and has had an insightful view on life. He knows students shouldn’t stress out and is always understanding of our personal situations. I agree with him. No 11th grader can live on two hours of sleep a night. After all, it’s just one test, or one assessment, or one grade for that matter. None of this is worth an unhealthy life. The second i start despising a class I’m going to drop it. Life’s too short to not have a calm head on your shoulders.