By Lorin Enns
CCSD and Barnes & Noble have paired up to introduce schools district-wide to the “My Favorite Teacher” writing contest. The contest is an opportunity for middle and high school students to write an essay, poem, or a “thank you” note about a teacher that they admire. The idea is to honor an appreciated educator and illustrate how they affect a student’s life.
“Teachers do so much for us, I mean they stay up into all hours of the night grading papers and helping us to succeed in what we’re doing in our life, so teachers need to be appreciated for what they do,” Kaden Call, sophomore, said.
Students of all ages throughout the district have the chance to expand on what their favorite teacher has done for them, and how their “magic cure” has made an impact on their lives.
“A good teacher needs to have rapport with students, that means like a relationship, humor, connections, [to] be a real person, and be who you are. You have to be engaging, but you have to be yourself, whether that’s funny or that’s serious, and you have to know how to manage 40 people in a room who don’t want to do what you want them to do. You have to have this ‘magic cure’ to get them to do what you want them to do,” Mr. Bolin, World History teacher, said.
Students will have until March 1 to submit their creations to the contest judges. Winning students will be awarded with a certificate and $5000 for their school, as well as being honored at an event for the teachers that won, while the teachers will be awarded with dinner and a Barnes & Noble gift card or cash prize of $5000.
