Never is a strong word, but I can confidently say I have never enjoyed science.  On September 2nd, 2014--what I thought was going to be a normal first day of senior year--wasn’t.  I headed into that frigid laboratory 10th hour wanting to go home, dragging my feet, thinking of how much I dread the next 40 minutes.  As I lazily arrived into the classroom, I heard an enthusiastic voice shout,  “Hello class! I am Mr. Tschanz--Welcome to Physics!”  Hearing that energetic, perky, four-eyed teacher say those words made me interested about the year to come. 

Growing up school has been my daily struggle--especially in science.  I recall utilizing my study halls, before school, and after school, trying to understand this mad subject.  My teachers were all willing to help me comprehend the mystery behind the subject we call science, but nothing helped until Mr. Tschanz came around--He is like Einstein minus the wild hair.

From the first day of school, Mr. T made all students feel comfortable asking for help.  I took this opportunity and started staying after school to receive assistance from him.  When I asked a question, Mr. T would be quick to help.  But unlike most teachers, not only would he answer my questions, but he would also apply it to something else to make sure I understood.

Most of my life, when it came to school work, I would always get extra help.That help consisted of the teachers solving the problem for me and not explaining anything.  But when I went in for extra help with Mr. T, it was a different story.   Mr. T would not tolerate giving me the answer.  He would sit down and say, “Common Maggie, you don’t want me to just give you the answer. You're very smart--you can do this.” He would then come up with an additional question and walk me through it. He would make sure I grasped the concept, before he sent me on my way to do the problem on my own.

In class, Mr. T shows instead of tells.  He gives us students a demonstration before he throws us students into it.  He frequently asks for volunteers and gets students active in class.  One time, we did a sand lab and he asked for six students to assist. The students broke up into three groups and he had them all do the same experiment to show us how it should be done.  Not all the groups got it right on the first round, but the one team succeeded.  He explained the error in the other groups and commended the group who completed it correctly.  From this I learned the correct way to do it other than jumping into the lab clueless. 

Not only is Mr. T one of the most brilliant teachers I have met, but he also knows how to crack the jokes too.  I’m not quite sure if it’s his jokes that are funny, or if it’s him trying to be funny that makes us chuckle.  When kids are down, he notices and approaches--and he puts a smile by both asking “what’s up” and showing he cares through his quirky science jokes.

Never is a strong word, but I can confidently say I will never say I dislike science again.  I can proudly say my teacher, Mr. Tschanz, made an impact in my life.  Thank you, Mr. Chad Tschanz, for the education and personality you bring to class everyday.