Student Nomination Story

How much fun could reading and learning how to use punctuation be? As I approached Mr. Andrews’ room freshman year, I thought the answer to this question was simply, it can’t be fun—but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Mr. Andrews used his personality to make the class interesting. He used jokes to make sure his students were engaged in the class. He would connect the topic to something we have all experienced to make it more understandable. His class taught me subjects I don’t enjoy can still be fun to learn. Some days, I would walk into his room and sit down, waiting for class to start. Mr. Andrews would walk into the classroom and show off some new trick or dance move that he learned. For example, there was one trick that he called “jumping through his leg” where he would lift up one of his feet, make a loop with his leg, and jump up and bring his other foot through the loop. This would make his students laugh; it also showed them school can be entertaining. Once I was done with my work, I would go up and talk to him about sports events from the previous night. This showed me I can still have fun while learning, and it doesn’t have to be super serious. Going to a small middle school with a graduating class of 17, the transition to having 500 classmates was tough. I didn’t know any teachers and I only knew a couple of people from my middle school. I didn’t know anyone in any of my classes freshman year. Yet, when I was in Mr. Andrews’ room, I felt like I knew everyone, as he made sure that no one was left out. As I walk up the stairs and round the corner, I see Mr. Andrews standing by his door, waiting to greet you. I could be having the worst day ever, but when I see Mr. Andrews’ smile, I forget about what had happened earlier in the day. This would help me get through my day, as I knew I could look forward to this class. Besides being my English teacher, he was also my freshman golf coach. Just like in the classroom, he would bring great energy to practice and not take it too seriously, which was important for a freshman like myself. When needed, he would give advice to make sure that I made good decisions on the course. With his many years of experience, he would know what to do if there was any confusion. Mr. Andrews showed me that fun can still be had while doing something that you don’t necessarily enjoy. Having a bright and positive attitude can lighten up people’s day, and he inspired me to want to make a change in other’s lives.

David Kneiser

As the sun rose over that cinderblock building I bit my finger nails. My stomach was tied in knots so I skipped breakfast. I sat in the car waiting for my brother to take me to my first day of high school. When I got there, I had a mountain of difficulty making it to my class — I had walked up and down each hall looking but didn’t realize my English class was one of about six classes held upstairs. When I finally got there, I knew it would be a good day. The room was decorated with works made by former students. A collection of small toys/figures of the Muppets and characters from Phineas and Ferb on a window sill. In the corner was two cardboard cutouts: a Darth Vader and an Elizabeth from the Pirates of the Caribbean. There didn’t even seem to be a teacher there, just another student in the teacher’s chair. So while looking around the room admiring the decor, the bell called for my attention. After the pledge and listening to the rest of the announcements, we were greeted by a friendly voice. “Hello good morning...” Mr. Andrews rose out of his chair and told us about who he was, and his class (which was pretty par for the course). But from what he described, his class was anything but. He talked about how second semester there’d be sword fighting, and how we would give presentations about one another. He said he’d give us candy for doing our homework early. This helped to motivate me, because I’ve been procrastinating professionally ever since elementary school. Mr. Andrews found ways to connect with us students. Whether it was playing games during his free time, taking group pictures, or even just showing videos (such as an interview he had given to the news), he was able to keep his class fun while still covering the content we needed to learn. This helped me remember the information. I can still give you a summary of Of Mice and Men, Lord of the Flies, or The Odyssey, even though I took the class four years ago. As the sun rose on that cinderblock building, the sun set on my fears. I knew every morning would be fine, because I’d be starting off my day with THE Mr. Andrews. So Thank you Mr. Andrews for keeping the mornings fun and full of life. Thank you for being overwhelmingly passionate about everything you do. Thank you for being supportive and trust worthy. Thank you for everything you did, because it made a world of difference to me as a scared little freshman.

Garrett M Shattuck

I had Mr. Andrews for ninth and tenth grade at Arrowhead Union High School’s South Campus. Mr. Andrews is friendly, kind, and approachable. You might be wondering in your head. “What Mr. Andrews looks like or may be like in class”, right? Well Mr. Andrews is slightly shorter than average, kind of quirky and energetic with an amazing but oddly humorous sense of humor. He is great around kids. With knowing how to make an entire classroom laugh to the point of tears.. Every day, every class, I would never know what the activity would be, but I knew he would be engaging. I knew he would get the quiet kids involved without just calling on them unexpectedly. His jovial side gives him a great personality for being around teenagers. When in one of his more productive classes (like me), he would treat us to an Instagram live that other students of his would join from other hours in the day to see how much fun our hour was. These Instagram lives would create a craving for each class period to work harder than the last to possibly have the chance of going “Live with Mr. Andrews”. Mr. Andrews teaches in a way I have not seen any other teachers be able to connect with kids like. Some of the activities seem as if they are not teaching you. Like going Instagram live might not sound productive to another teacher, but he gave us a little rope so then we worked harder in class and truly were zoned in with focus. But the reality is every single day when he is teaching all of his students to be able to work with different people we might’ve not even known. Being able to do group work in unity and synergy through teamwork and assistance. Mr. Andrews is consistently a sensationally fun guy who knows how to relate books and readings back to teenage students in appropriate ways that were really funny!! Undoubtedly Mr. Andrews was aware that the video game “Fortnite” could create a big distraction of students’ work time in each class period. Mr. Andrew’s embraced it though! Through talking about the game with us students and later on downloading the game and getting students to focus on their work in class, to be able to play Fortnite after school with Mr. Andrews allowed each video gaming teen to connect to Mr. Andrews another level. Mr. Andrews is truly an outstanding soul and Arrowhead Union High School is blessed to have someone who can connect and relate with teenagers in such a regular way. Considering the majority of male teenagers play video games and that can be a very typical but great way to create a connection from the student to the teacher. These connections are tremendous in your students' work ethic in your classroom. Especially when dealing with ninth and tenth graders. Not many teachers have capabilities to associate a child centered game to get their students to do work in class, so they could play “Fortnite” later in the evening after school. Just certain things he does from day to day classes keep things interesting and open more students' awareness. It could be an educational video, worksheet, group work and even hide and seek with toy dolls - I am enticed. I am still motivated to get classroom work done on time with this structure of teaching. I truly appreciated Mr. Andrews’ class when he could get all of his students to thrive together. This classroom flourished with work always getting completed on time with great quality and effort. One day Mr. Andrews might be gone for a golf meet and the next he starts class with a cartwheel. From reading Shakespeare or even Of Mice and Men to relating it to our young immature freshman and sophmores, he always presented to his audience of classroom kids. Arguably, the best teacher at Arrowhead Union High School has ever acquired, could be Mr. Andrews. No matter who you are or what you do in his classroom, if you go up to him and ask him any question, he is open to talk about it with either just you or even the whole class. Teachers that are approachable are empowering!

Seth Schneider

First semester freshman year, I was thrown into the Arrowhead High School grind. I remember my first classes vividly because it ended up shaping how I treated the rest of my high school career. English 9 with Mr. Andrews. I took my seat in class after barely finding my way to the room and I felt as if I belonged. Mr. Andrews was the most interesting, quirky, funny, and enthusiastic teacher I had ever seen. I was so surprised to see a teacher treat school this way. Growing up, I was not into English. I hated to read and resented writing; I thought nothing would change that. Mr. Andrews made English fun and interesting. He would bring the energy up in the room; he told funny jokes and tried to act like a teenager. He did a cartwheel in front of the class so everyone could record it and share it. It was almost as if he wanted us to make other students jealous we were getting the best high school experience ever. Mr. Andrews also made sure he was informed of social media. He would take fun and wacky Instagram pictures with his classes and he would post them so everyone could see them. Along with making learning and class fun, Mr. Andrews also is one of the only teachers I’ve had that made it fun to study and gave an incentive to do so. I remember when he created a studying game and made it a competition between his classes to see who could study the most. I’m competitive so I ended up getting third place and I didn’t even have to take the quiz as a reward. After freshman year ended, I didn’t have him on my schedule. I thought English 9 was going to be the only time I ever saw him before I graduated. Lucky for me, I was wrong. Junior year, my friend convinced me to try out for the golf team. I showed up to tryouts, not knowing what to expect and then I saw him. Mr. Andrews was the JV golf team coach and if I could manage to make the team, he would be my coach for the season. I somehow made the team and he was my coach so I got one last dose of Mr. Andrews’s greatness before I graduating high school. I cherish the moments I got to spend with him throughout my high school career; he has a special place in my mind and heart.

Michael Mickevicius

The first day of freshman year at Arrowhead High School, I searched for my first class: English. I was not looking forward to it. I sat down in an empty desk just before the bell rang. As the teacher introduced himself, I still remember the enthusiasm and excitement he had in his voice as he said good morning. He was short, had short brown hair, and when he smiled, it made me want to smile. His name was Mr. Andrews, and after that first day, I knew I’d never forget him. Mr. Andrews kept things under control and on topic, yet at the same time, he made class fun. It still remains a mystery how he did it. One of the possible reasons is because he kept the class involved. For example, when we read Romeo and Juliet he had us pick parts to read out loud for the class. This was a far better option than reading by ourselves. But it’s not just what he did in the classroom, it’s what he did out of it as well. I remember walking in the halls and every time I saw him, he would say hi to me. I can honestly say that this made my day better. He would also tell the class if we needed someone to talk to about anything, even if it wasn’t English, we could talk to him. I personally didn’t need this, but the fact that he told us this shows he really cares for his students. My favorite memory of Mr. Andrews was sophomore year, second semester. I had English class ninth and tenth hour with Mr. Johnson. He was out of town so Mr. Andrews was our substitute teacher. It was the day before a break, and we finished the stuff we had planned. About ten minutes before the day ended, Mr. Andrews got up from the desk, walked to the back corner of the room and picked up the miniature foosball table. He then pulled one of the tables in the class to the front and set down the foosball table. Out of all the students in the class, he challenged me. For the last ten minutes of class, Mr. Andrews and I played foosball as the class crowded around us. He ended up beating me both games we played. We agreed on a rematch sometime before the school year ended, but it never happened, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little upset about this. That was, and still is the best day of school I ever had. After being in his English class, I realized maybe high school wasn’t going to be so bad. So, here’s to Mr. Andrews—a kind, funny, and caring teacher. Thank you for making English class interesting and giving me a fun start to my high school years. I’m still looking forward to that rematch.

Raymond Reusch

To see more exceptional teacher nominees, visit The Honor Roll.