I am choosing my 7th grade social studies teacher Mr. Wood for my Educator of the year nominee. He was also my baseball coach for one season at skyline middle school. He also held a club called the Best Men’s club. It brought together kids who would never get to see each other after school and it let them play sports more basketball than anything.
He was my 7th grade social studies teacher and my coach. But to me he was more like a brother he treated me like I was one of his friends. In sixth grade I was what some people would call a very bad student. I was constantly getting in trouble. On the first day of 7th grade he told me after class that all this getting in trouble stuff is done with and that. I needed to start growing up and getting my act together. He told me that in 7th grade there are a lot of privileges such as being allowed to going on more trips and participating in more activities. But around the middle of the year I was suspended for fighting; he pulled me aside after my day first back he told me I needed to keep that fight in the past and that meant a lot to me. Right then and there I knew that he really cared about me and cared about how my life would go.
About the time I entered a club that Mr. Wood put together; it’s called Best Men’s Club. It meant a lot to me because I had friends that I would only see in school and he thought wait, why not try to get them sometime after school on Fridays to have a gym and study hall time. That really got to me and my friends; we just thought they wanted us to get in trouble. He showed me that he wanted to keep me out of trouble and keep me focused on school and my friends. This was a turning point in school for me.
Now even though I moved to 8th grade, I had a different teacher I still stayed in contact with Mr. Wood. I still asked about things I did not understand. Even through all of the 8th grade year he would always be there for me for the good and the bad. If it were not for him, I may have not got into one of the best schools in the state and you would not be reading this right now. When I heard that we were getting a new baseball coach in 8th grade. My friend told me it was Mr. Wood. When he said that, I starting to flip because I knew he played in college, and would he know how to get us wins. In his first year we did not make the tournament, but we learned a lot in a short period of time; I learned so much that I became a state qualified player for my travel team. He inspired me to help the young guys and keep the younger guys focused and out of trouble.
I can’t believe that he took some kid who looked like he was going to be nothing, and he turned him into an athlete with a sports future. I give all my credit to Mr. Wood for giving me a chance and keeping me involved. I couldn’t be more proud to nominate him for this educator of the award; he deserves it.