Have you ever wanted to thank your teachers for all the hard work they’ve done? Have you ever wondered why they wanted to start teaching? Teacher day is May 9^th and your favorite teachers wanted to share their favorite moments of their teaching career.

“I love the interaction with students in the classroom – especially the “aha” moments when students figure out a challenging problem. I love it when students ask challenging questions and make observations that make me think harder about the material. I love running into former students and learning what they’ve accomplished and how they have changed since leaving our school, and what Oak Park did for them. Sometimes they say thanks, sometimes they apologize, but it’s always a positive experience for me and reminds me why I love teaching,” says Math teacher Phillip Gegen.

“I love getting to see kids experience growth.  It’s not always about the checklist of school to-do items; it’s instead about becoming thinkers and learners.  It’s awesome when you see kids become advocates and inspirers of their own learning,” says teaching and learning coach Callie Smothers.

“I love teaching. It is all I ever wanted to do. I love kids and all their spirit, creativity and I love how hard they work. It is so fun to go to class and find a group of students that want to learn and they find such interesting things to study. I was a student at Oak Park so it is especially great to teach at my high school alma matter. I am so fortunate to love my job,” says gifted teacher Lori Dameron.

“I love teaching because of all of the awesome kids that you get to meet and to know.   I love teaching Spanish because I loved learning it as a student, and I’ve gotten to travel to a lot of really cool places because I can communicate with the people there.  Knowing another language opens up a lot of opportunities,” says foreign language teacher Cathi Postma.

“I love that every single day is different, that no two students are alike in how they learn and work together and ask questions. I love that my coworkers (pretty much) are teenagers. I love that every new school year is a chance at a new start for students and teachers. I love that students share amazing things in their writing and I get to be a part of that. I love seeing people become smarter. I love to see the kindness that teenagers are capable of, if you look for it or let them,” says English Teacher Varsity Scholar Bowl Sara Hantzis.

“I love teaching because every day is different. My students make me laugh every single day, and I get the opportunity to watch them grow as thinkers and humans, says English teacher Jackie Gosney.