An Inspiration

As a teacher in his thirties, Mr. R was a rarity at Dennis Yarmouth High School. While most teachers were counting down the days to retirement, Mr. R was busy teaching with the energy of a new teacher, even though he wasn't. While many of the teachers looked disdainfully at the student body and lamented about how bad things were these days, Mr. R looked to his students as bright, promising young people who had fresh ideas and were fully capable.

As a U.S. History teacher, Mr. R didn't necessarily teach the most interesting subject, but he made it the most interesting subject. Instead of following the textbooks and analyzing three-hundred year-old documents, lively class discussions and debates were the norm, with everyone exchanging their ideas and showing genuine interest in the material. This is why Mr. R received the teacher of the year award and was so looked up to by all of his students.

Instead of learning the history of a rich, white male U.S., students in his class were often exposed to U.S. History from the point of view of Black people, Native Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanics, and women. This was why all of his students were so responsive to what he taught. He taught them a history that they could relate to, not something that was so far removed that it seemed irrelevant to everyone's lives and something that no one would ever need to use again in their lives.

Personally, it was because of Mr. R's class that I decided to become a history major in college. After taking that class I saw history not so much as events that occurred in the past and are over and done with, but as a key to understanding today's world and possibly being able to foresee what may happen in the future.

For his ability to inspire and motivate his students in a school where so many students were destined to fail, Mr. R is a Class Act.

-- Grant Butler