It has become common lingo for generations now to say the phrase "a great man once said..." But those who say this have not yet met Mr. Kivanoski, my 10th grade Global History teacher. I have come to find him to be a truly wise man and I am positive that the majority of my peers agree as well. Having him as my teacher has significantly changed my educational career in far too many ways to name.
The job of a teacher is not an easy one, and this many be difficult to say coming from a student. However, I know that a field like this requires a lot of planning and a lot of patience. It is quite easy for me to put myself into the shoes of another so for a moment, I will put myself into the shoes of a teacher. It is truly heartbreaking to have to wake up each morning, prepared to teach, and then to generally be welcomed byt students who are not prepared or willing to learn. It is truly devastating to walk into your classroom eager to collect homework and then discover that less than half the students in your class bothered to do it. But the worst of them all is having to have taught students for the entirety of two terms, and then to find out that they have to redo that course. In the end, it makes you feel inadequate as a teacher and gives you the notion that you didn't do your part even though you've done all that you could.
However, it is not all an unrewarding experience. If a teacher has the opportunity to spark a turning point in just one student's educational career, it is the most fulfilling feeling ever. And this is what I feel like Mr. Kivanoski has done for me. Global History was a foreign course to me when I entered high school so in turn, I did not start out as well as I would have liked to. Now in the second year of high school with Mr. Kivanoski as my teacher, I am doing better than I ever imagined I would. Things actually make sense and the required education feels all too tangible. I feel like I am in World War I, I feel like I was a witness to the Boxer Rebellion, but most of all, I feel like I am excelling. I thank you Mr. Kivanoski, for all that you do and opening my eyes to the brighter [more interesting] side of our world's history.
-Angelique Henderson
Student, Brooklyn Technical High School