For many seniors, at least one teacher changed their course. So, questions arise when thinking back to what teacher has impacted them the most. What did that teacher do that was so meaningful? What made them stand out from the rest? How did they impact others? How did they connect with me?
Teachers mold lives, practically without even knowing students; in a year, on average, high school teachers interact with 170+ students within their classrooms. However, teachers don’t always see the impact they have.
Some of this year’s seniors have said throughout their high school careers that their teachers have impacted them the most.
Mr. Allen
Senior Ivan Cerda said that the teacher who impacted him the most throughout his entire high school career was Mr. Alan Allen, his junior-year world history teacher.
Describing him as “overly nice,” Cerda admired Allen’s effort to say hi to him. But, more than simply saying hello, Allen made more of an impact on Cerda.
Especially when Allen would play the World Cup in different countries, Cerda felt like he could talk about topics outside the classroom. It was in his classroom, where Allen showed Cerda he could take harder classes, advising Cerda would take them in his senior year.
It was Mr. Allen who nominated Cerda for Most Inspirational and pushed him to be a better version of himself throughout his high school career. If he had a message for Mr. Allen, it would be to thank him.
“You impacted me in a great way throughout my entire high school career. You’re the reason I challenged myself with so many APs,” Cerda said. “You showed me that it’s not as difficult as you think to be an AP student and work hard. I just want to say thank you.”
Mr. Ana
Mr. James Ana has impacted senior Isabella Guglielmino the most throughout her high school career with his encouragement, helping her to have balance between her school work and extracurriculars, build her confidence and leadership skills.
From when she first started playing the flute in band to the present, Guglielmino has felt encouraged by Ana to grow. Guglielmino recalled, in her second year, while doing her chair audition, Ana complimented her improvement and acknowledged how much work she’d put into the instrument. That meant a lot to her.
She’s also seen people in similar situations with the ability to grow with Ana’s encouragement. He made everything seem possible for Guglielmino.
“He seems like he wants to genuinely help people and he wants people to enjoy the program,” Guglielmino said.
In general, for Guglielmino, Ana was a wonderful teacher, down to earth and fun, even supporting her outside of the band by attending her guard competitions.
“I’m really happy that he’s the band teacher that I spent my band career with. I wouldn’t have picked a different teacher,” Guglielmino said.
Ms. Arredondo
Senior Atticus Ruiz said Ms. Lisset Arredondo impacted him the most throughout his high school career. Spending two years in her class, Arredondo was the reason Ruiz fell in love with graphic design. Encouraging him, he felt like she was always a mentor.
He reflected on her positive energy. He thought her ability to focus on her profession and continue to be super positive, trying to make everyone feel better, was impressive. Rather than being extremely strict, she was just encouraging to everyone.
“I’m not the only one, she doesn’t have favorites or anything and she’s always just trying to impact everybody else like the same way she has impacted me,” Ruiz said.
Looking back, Ruiz holds a lot of appreciation because now he’ll be incorporating graphic design into his major.
Ms. Bravo
The teacher who impacted senior Michelle Iftekhar the most was Ms. Alexia Bravo. She became a mentor for Iftekhar throughout her high school career in her junior year AP U.S. history teacher, but continued to be a part of Iftehkar’s life afterwards.
“Apart from the fact that she wrote a lot of letters of recommendation for me for college, going to her class every day really brought back my love for history and kind of cemented my decision to pursue a career in humanities and social sciences,” Iftekhar said.
Bravo created a welcoming and positive environment in her classroom where Iftekhar was encouraged to participate. Her dedication to making everyday in class lively and engaging, even while she teaching off presentations, showed the effort she put in the class. For people that didn’t always favor history, they started to enjoy the subject.
On a personal level, outside of class, Bravo allowed Iftekhar to express the things she enjoyed like movies, music, and culture. So, after junior year ended, Iftekhar continued to go to Bravo’s classroom and just talk about life.
“She’s my teacher and is always going to be a mentor to me, but I really feel like I was able to connect with her on a deeper level and I’m forever grateful for that companionship,” Iftekhar said.
Another student with a similar connection to Bravo is senior Kailee Roberts. She had the privilege of being in her class her sophomore and junior years, in Bravo’s AP world and AP U.S. history classes.
As Roberts was a very involved student on campus, she felt Bravo spent the time to ask her about what I her involvements and interests, extending the relationship past just her being her teacher. Rather than just understanding who Roberts was as a person, Bravo made Roberts feel appreciated and respected.
Roberts was a member of the Mock Trial team on campus and would often leave for competitions, but instead of feeling a sense of disconnect from Bravo’s class, she was always encouraged.
“I’ve seen a lot of people be able to come from the class just fulfilled and have a better love for what she’s teaching, it’s not just a subject but rather they are able to connect it with their everyday lives,” Roberts said.
Typically she’s heard others reference something from what Mrs.Bravo taught, everyone lighting up while making the same connection.
Overall, Roberts felt immensely grateful for the time that she spent with Mrs.Bravo and the connection they had.
Mr. Favero
Meeting Mr. Gary Favero in her junior year and now being his teacher’s assistant this year, senior Ventura Cimenski-Almogela said Favero has impacted her throughout her high school career.
“Just the way he talked about English made me realize I really like English and it led me to realize that I want to study it in college,” Cimenski-Almogela said.
To Cimenski-Almogela, Favero made people think about English itself differently, not just words on a page, but as something that can be interpreted through many varying points of views.
In the way he talked, he told the truth. Cimenski-Almogela explained how he gave a sense of reality, not sugarcoating things and telling them how they were. Talking about things in their literal sense without shying away from uncomfortable topics, which was something Cimenski-Almogela appreciated.
On a more personal level, Favero made the time to talk to her about a lot of different books she thought were interesting. Favero commented on whatever book she talked about and gave recommendations or insights.
“I want to do English, I want to study it in the future, so I think he shaped a lot of my ideas about the way the world works from reading just the text itself,” Cimenski-Almogela said.
In the future Cimenski-Almogela hopes Favero’s future students refrain from complaining about the amount of work he gives out but instead focus when he talks and interacts with him. She wants them to know that a lot of the time he’s more interesting than other classes.
Mr. Lee
For Senior Robert Erickson, throughout his high school career, the teacher that impacted him the most was Mr. David Lee.
Erickson first had Lee’s Integrated Math III honors class as a sophomore and later had Lee’s summer pre-calculus class. Erickson felt both classes were incredible. He always excelled in math and enjoyed it, but Mr. Lee sparked something different.
“In giving us challenging problems in pretty much everything, I fell in love with math to the point where I now want to double major in it,” Erickson said.
Lee stood out to Erickson by the way he taught, instilling a love of learning and simply being cool. It was evident when going to merely talk to him, looking up his YouTube channel, or watching him play Mario Kart.
Erickson described in a message to Mr. Lee what he would say.
“Thank you for being the coolest and most inspiring teacher I had. I wouldn’t be on the math path I am today if it weren’t for your class and I’m forever indebted to you,” Erickson said.
Ms. Vertiz
Kolluru first met Vertiz in her freshman year. Vertiz was her English I honors teacher, and this year she’s in Vertiz’s class again, AP Literatue and Composition. She’s grateful for her teaching style.
“Her teaching style invites us to think critically and speak up, turning every class into a conversation,” Kolluru said. “I’ve never seen students so eager to share their thoughts, or to hear hers. I’ll truly miss having a teacher who gets me as excited for a subject as she does.”
Although, outside of class Vertiz still made an impact on Kolluru. As she started joining clubs, Kolluru realized Vertiz was the advisor of the Creative Writing Club. So, even after leaving her class, she continued to come back to her room every Thursday.
“I am so grateful I had you twice in my high school career. You have sparked my curiosity and challenged my thinking, helping me grow as a student and a person. I am truly going to miss you when I’m in college!” Kolluru said.
Ms. Womack
Senior Andrea Bruster’s teacher who impacted her the most throughout her high school career was Ms. Megan Womack. Womack was Bruster’s AP Language and Composition teacher in her junior year, and for her, Womack was the type of teacher to go to for any type of problem.
In her experiences, Womack proved to be an excellent teacher, making work for her and her fellow peers digestible. Being a core piece in learning the curriculum, Womack truly supported her students.
“I think Mrs.Womack is always able to help a kid out if they are in need. Anytime I had problems I was able to go to her,” Bruster said.
Bruster said there’s been multiple occasions where she was helped them with, but what she highlighted was how Womack took the time to be there for her students. Bruster was thankful for Womack’s presence in her life.
“Thank you for always being there for me, and also thank you for understanding how I was with sports and school, just thank you for being there” Bruster said.
Ms. Sealy
First in freshman year with earth space, then AP environmental science, and now as a teacher’s assistant, Ms. Berenice Sealy impacted senior Yuhang Xu throughout his high school career. Xu felt like Sealy was there for him, supportive and her attitude for education was impactful.
“She embraces everyone’s differences and she puts that aside and puts education first. It doesn’t matter if she has to do extra work if they are getting the quality education that she wants them to have then she’s happy,” Xu said.
Xu shared that she cared about what she was teaching, everything she did was in consideration of others’ futures, although they didn’t always see it.
From geology, earth space science, chemistry, environmental science, ecology, anatomy, anatomy, health, and her plan to serve the community after she retires, Xu has a lot of love for his teacher.
“I can’t express my gratitude for your presence in my life and the impact you’ve made. Though the reason I wanted to go into stem was because you made it seem like such a fascinating concept, regardless of the hardship that we’ll all inevitably go through in stem, or the obstacles that stem faces and the political atmosphere,” Xu said. “I feel like you still made it seem like something that was so important to you, this planet and to humanity, and it was really inspiring, and yeah I wanted to thank you for that.”
Overview
For most seniors right now, they are looking back on their high school career. Like many of the seniors who participated in the interviews for this story, many seniors would like to say thank you to the teachers who have impacted them.
