We have a lot of very helpful teachers, social workers, and secretaries that are always able to help us with everything, but I will be writing this letter to you for my English teacher, Dana Panagot.
In middle school I honestly failed English, because I thought it was extremely boring. I used to think that books are such a waste of time. And so that went on until my 10th grade year of high school when I was put in a class with about 20 to 25 students. It was stressful and hard but my truly wonderful teacher, Dana, made a difference. She told me to just imagine it, and you will find something amazing. I thought she was saying this because she gets paid. Dana decided to read and told us to follow along. Little by little, I started to imagine stuff and she would get us to do group work with people we didn’t know very well so that way we can learn to present our work to people we don’t know very well.
Then I started to do something I had never done before. I started to participate because Dana made the classroom feel like a safe environment, she made it a place where I did not have to think twice about raising my hand. No more thinking, what if I was wrong. All of a sudden it was, "uhh…I know this," and her way of getting us there was by getting us to discuss things like what is the reason that people can be racist, what makes a bystander, and what is stereotyping ,why do people use it?
I have to say a lot of times the class is still crazy, but that is what makes it Dana's class. Everyone knows when it is time to learn, even though we play around, we always have our work done. Dana also gives us SAT words and last week the whole class got a score of over 90%. In this class there are of course intelligent students but most of us are ESL, kids who have been in America for as little as one year, and to be able to get over a 90% grade on an SAT vocabulary test is huge. I have been in America for 4 years, I have tried other teachers in my school, but never have I learned a lesson like I learn it in Dana's class.
Now, I’m not being forced to write this letter. As a matter of fact, Dana doesn’t even know I’m writing it. Everyone that has worked so hard and put so much dedication and interest into something should be awarded. For all those times kids said "I can’t do it" and she said "yes you can. For not just being a teacher but being a real caring and kind person. For having the nerves to deal with all these kids (especially me). My role model Dana.
-Rrezarta Kida
Junior, Facing History High School