Throughout a normal high school career teens go through about 24+ teachers. In a seven-hour day of school they see each teacher for about 55 minutes. There are approximately 180 days in an average school year. This means that each student spends about 9,900 hours with every teacher. For some, they see these adults more than their own parents. Automatically, teachers are a huge impact on our lives, some more than others. There are those teachers that you may never remember, and then there are the ones who brand your memory…the ones that you will never forget.
Within East Lansing High school, in room 604 is one of those unforgettable teachers, his name is Jeff Lyon. I’m going to be blunt, when it comes to social studies classes like Mr. Lyon teaches; I am defiantly not the brightest crayon in the box. When it comes to his tests, I struggle. The thing is though; he never gives up on me. I studied and I studied, did the extra credit and took the notes, but still my score on the chapter test was failing. When he called me up to get my test to see my score I was embarrassed, even ashamed. He could tell, he knew how I was feeling. He asked me to come up to his desk where he proceeded to try and help me understand why it was I had done so poorly. He asked me to come in for study hall to work with him and go through the questions… I got upset; part of me wanted him to just leave it alone. It took me a little while to understand, he was under no obligation to take the time to work with me one on one…he could have simply collected my test and said nothing. My seventh grade math teacher told me one day, “It doesn’t matter if you pass or if you fail my class, either way I get paid the same”. And then it hit me; Mr. Lyon isn’t here just to collect a paycheck…he’s one of the few that is here for all the right reasons.
It never ceases to amaze me how he can connect with each and every student, taking the time to get to know us…going out of his way to let us know he cares. Sometimes, I have really low days and then really high ones…he calls me “an emotional roller-coaster”…and he respects that’s just how I am. When I find myself in the midst of a down day the absolute last thing I want to do is expand my knowledge. He gets that and so he comes up with some nifty little way to get a smile out of me, like the time he told some joke about a mime…and everyone got it but me and I was laughing so hard because I just couldn’t seem to understand it. Soon enough I was back in the game, participating, listening and, hey, even learning a little.
Not only does Mr. Lyon teach World Civ, Military History, and U.S. History, he is also a soccer coach. I am not on the team, and therefore do not have very much knowledge of what it’s like to have him as a coach, however when he has players who are in his class he makes sure that they are doing everything possible to achieve their full potential on and off the field. He’s the perfect balance of humor and sternness. He always makes sure to keep his players and students on their toes at all times.
My dad always tells me, if you do your job to the best of your ability then the rest will come with time… Mr. Jeff Lyon is doing his job like no one else I have ever seen, and I truly believe that it’s time to let him know that it’s been noticed. I wrote this essay to hopefully grab your attention and give you a glimpse of one of the best teachers I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Within the immense amount of devotion he has for his job and care for his students in lies the exact reason this man deserves to be nominated as “educator of the year”.