When I entered eighth grade at North Shore Middle School, I knew I was doomed. In math of course. I have always struggled with it and have never looked forward to going to a math class. But when I walked into Algebra on the first day, I already knew that this year was going to be different.
“You have Mr. Vento? You’re so lucky!” is what I got from all my friends frantically comparing schedules.
Mr. Vento is a mid-sized, dark-haired Italian, with a love for football. He taught many different levels of math and never seemed to favor a more challenging course over a lower course. He cared about each and every one of us, and enjoyed teaching us not only math, but also life lessons. Three words to describe Mr. Vento are passionate, hilarious, and challenging.
Unlike a lot of teachers, Mr. Vento cared about each and everyone’s individual lives outside of school and not just just their success with the subject he taught. He made an effort to know about what sports we played, what television shows we watched, or what music we liked.
He cared about the student body and made sure every kid was treated right and felt comfortable going to school. He was passionate about the subject he taught, and turned math problems into real life problems that we could relate to. Things like that made it much easier for me to comprehend the new lessons we would learn each day.
If I wasn’t having the greatest day, and I needed a good laugh, I could always count on Mr. Vento’s class to cheer me up. We were all so open with each other, and it felt like a little family. He understood that all of us had our differences, and not all of us would be able to understand his lessons right away. That was me. And he knew that and was okay with it.
He always made sure I knew that not being able to do math as quickly as other people didn’t make me any less of a person. For example, when I was getting frustrated with myself about not getting a math problem, Mr. Vento and the rest of the class moved all of the desks to the sides of the room, and begged me to do a flip. He made sure that I knew I had other things to offer, and to not get down on myself for being a little on the slower side in regards to math.
Mr. Vento challenged me and made me work hard to achieve what I wanted. He constantly reminded his students it’s not just going to be handed to you on a silver platter. He knew when to make jokes, when to have fun, and when to get down to business.
When I entered eighth grade at North Shore Middle School, I knew I was doomed. Doomed in math, of course. I have always struggled with math and I have never looked forward to going to a math class. But when I walked out of Algebra on the last day, I knew I would never forget the memories and life lessons I learned in Mr. Vento’s class.