I’ve never had problems with math. It has been one of my strongest subjects throughout my life as a student. Despite this, I always found myself dreading being in math class. While the subject comes to me naturally, I don’t have a strong interest in pursuing it as a career. At the same time it was my best subject, math was also my worst subject. This was most apparent during my high school years at Arrowhead.
That was until junior year, when I walked into a odd trapezoidal shaped room and found a tall, bespectacled man wearing a nice shirt and tie. The first time I saw him, I had a slight sigh of relief-- sometimes a student can assess the caliber of a teacher at first sight. At first glance, I knew this year would be unrivaled. His name was Mr. Martin.
He oozed enthusiasm and maintained a sincere and friendly smile while greeting each student that was lucky enough to have him as their Functions teacher. I could tell that he would be the most understanding and charismatic math teacher I’d ever have.
And I was right. Mr. Martin  expressed excitement as we discussed the next lesson in the chapter. He loved to add humor to his lessons to get the basics across and help us understand better. His room was adorned with several UW Milwaukee merchandise, from pennants to posters, and during March Madness, he could talk for days about NCAA Basketball and his prejudice towards Marquette.
Math became a class I could easily withstand for 40 minutes. I excelled in that class more than I normally did in my previous years. Mr. Martin  could distinctly and accurately answer any question thrown at him by a student regarding the lesson, using a confident and exuberant tone as if he knew it like a highly caffeinated Jeopardy contestant. He taught and explained so well, it seemed impossible to be confused.
One thing Mr. Martin  did exceptionally well was give  assistive feedback on all things, from tests to lessons. He would always go the extra mile if it benefitted his students. The day after taking a large unit test, Mr. Martin was already handing the tests back and discussing the results, even taking the time to post statistics on the board-- like mean, median, and range-- so you could see how you did compared to the rest of the class.
Mr. Martin was able to turn my best subject into my actual best subject, relieving me of boredom and apathy from my arithmetic experience. Because of him, my performance in junior year math far exceeds previous years of math in both academic success and enjoyment. I’m thankful for his year of teaching Functions to me, and that is why I nominate Mr. Martin as Educator of the Year.