“Hello, My name is Mr. Ruff…” said Jacob Ruff at Arrowhead Union High School. This was just what I thought would be a normal class…but I was deeply mistaken on the first day.  Mr. Ruff is my Autos teacher here at Hartland Arrowhead Union High School and I have developed a strong teacher-student relationship. Most teachers, I feel like I see them for my allotted time and that is all the communication there is. With Mr. Ruff I can do more than just what is inside of my class time, from working on my own tasks to asking the questions that further my success. 

His jokes in and out of the lab never go unnoticed by myself and other students. Oftentimes they are jokes you can laugh along with. One of my favorite jokes that still sticks with me to this day is when he said “Make sure to put some anti-sneeze on it.” This joke was so simple yet did not go over my head. This makes the school day noticeably better because it doesn't seem so authoritative where there is some freedom to be yourself and have a good time. You will go to a school day where it is very directional in learning and very bland. This just doesn't have a positive impact on us students emotionally. When you are yourself and can laugh it's good for myself and students wellbeing, 

Mr. Ruff recently joined us here at Arrowhead Union High School at the start of the 2023-24 school year. He has done a great job continuing the excellence of the automotive and wood courses he teaches. All I have heard from other students is how his class is more educational and formative than years past. This means a lot to me because as a student I want to be educated on automotives and not a free for all.    Every day he is to be seen with a smile on his face outside of his classroom greeting the students and myself.

My favorite part about Mr. Ruff is the high standard of respect and work ethic he demands out of myself and others as students. I remember last semester I was goofing off in class during lecture time and he politely reminded me that I am a better student than what I was presenting at that moment in time. This really meant a lot to me because it does not give me the feeling that i'm just another person instead i'm his student that he cares for and it just makes the class that much better. I was falling behind in our assigned chapters of work and Mr. Ruff said,“it's easier just to get them done now instead of waiting later.” This really made me stop and think about just doing my work then and there. I am still a work in progress realizing this each day. 

Just this past month we had some behavioral issues in class and Mr. Ruff was very professional in the way he corrected those students. Instead of hooting and hollering at the students for their actions he told them politely to stop. He then had a conversation with the students explaining that the behavior wasn't appropriate for class. He wasn't mad at us as students nor made it seem like he disliked us for one action in time. It really makes you reflect upon yourself and think to yourself “Mr. Ruff is right. I can be better than this.” One of the things he says is “I’m not mad at you, I'm just telling you that it's not appropriate to be doing”.

Overall Mr. Ruff is the best teacher I can ever ask for. Not a day goes by where I am not thankful for his educational knowledge he shares and his ability to be straight up and tell you he doesn't know everything. I want to formally thank you Mr. Ruff for your time in school and greatness you radiate. I will never forget the first day of class where it all started.