Oh, Gartner....

Wasted time, bad cafeteria food, bad attitudes. Dirty bathrooms, Kids with poor hygiene, and even poorer parents. Forests full of innocent trees that were murdered for the paper that is now sitting in front of me, covered with words and math equations that I will NEVER understand. Temptations of sex, drugs, and giving up all hope for the future that I'm not sure I was ever meant to be a part of anyway. These are just some of the thoughts that pollute my mind when I think of Redford Union High School. Then, there are the teachers.

As if our parents aren't bad enough, here are MORE adults full of rules and determination to shove every piece of information that they have gained through life experiences down our throats. Half of them are only in it for the money, because they lost their passion for teaching a long time ago. The other half really do want to connect with us and make a difference, but they don't know where to start. They've all forgotten what it was like to be a teenager. Half of them struggle to remember, while the other half are satisfied with their ability to forget. Then, there's him.

Mr. Gartner. My vegetarian, math-fearing, cat-loving, dog-hating, always-joking, J.D. Salinger-admiring, music-obsessing, suit-wearing, rebellious, geography-nerd-of-a-German-teacher. My island of hope in a sea of hopelessness. He is colorblind, but sometimes the world REALLY IS seen best in black and white. He isn't one of those teachers who pretends to be someone they're not just so they will be accepted by the student body, and he isn't one of those teachers who just keep everything to themselves in fear of being judged or rejected by the rest of us. He just is what he is. HUMAN, and completely REAL.

That spot where he cut himself shaving? REAL. That piece of gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe? REAL. That ONE piece of hair that always stands up on the back of his head, that he has ABSOLUTELY NO CONTROL over? REAL. That random outburst of laughter that came from him while walking down the middle of a silent hallway? Very REAL.

Every flaw, every mistake, every misunderstanding, disaster, or mishap. They are all REAL. He messes up on a daily basis, just like the rest of us. What makes HIM different, is that he accepts the fact that he isn't perfect. He just shrugs his shoulders, cracks a joke to lighten the mood, and moves on. He is the one who usually gets me through the day, whether he realizes it or not.

At age 32, Mr.Gartner has managed to do what I was nearly convinced was impossible. He has managed to hold on to the memory of what it was like to be young, determined, and confused. Actually, he still is, and that's what makes him so easy to relate to. Not only that, but he has managed to communicate with us and capture our attention in a way that makes us actually want to learn more about the German language.

Mr. Gartner gives us German notes through slide shows, which contain pictures of him from when he was younger, for our amusement, and to help us connect to the material that he is trying to teach us. Although he teaches German, he thinks in a language all his own. Sometimes, he talks about some of the things going on in his personal life, and mistakes that he's made that we can relate to. It provides us with evidence that he is human, just like us. It makes us feel better, letting us know that we aren't the only ones who mess up.

He makes us feel like he is always on our side, and he actually listens to what we have to say. He sees the world from both sides. Through our eyes, as well as the adults'. His easy-going personality and admirable sense of humor gets us through the hardest of times, and his jokes make reality a little bit easier to deal with. He is ranked 'Most Favorite' by all of his SANE students (or at least the ones who actually stay awake during class) and I would love to nominate him as Educator of the CENTURY. He means alot to all of us, especially to my best friend, Eleanor, and I.

Over the past two years that i have been attending R.U., Tragedy has struck twice in the form of death for two freshman students. Both were killed at different times, and both were hit by cars. Eleanor and i were very close to both of the boys killed, one of whom was Eleanor's little brother and Gartner's student. He was in my fifth hour German class. Eleanor and I can honestly say that if it wasn't for Mr. Gartner and his sense of humor, we wouldn't have made it through these hard times. He just sort of smiles, shrugs, and says ''Tough times don't last. Tough people do.''

In December of 2009, Mr. Gartner's iPod was stolen off of his desk by one of his students who took him for-granted. The rest of us thought it was horrible, and saw it as an opportunity to help HIM out with something, for once. We all felt it was a necessity to buy him a new one, and we actually raised near $300 in a matter of 2 days to buy him a new one as an early Christmas gift. How many teachers do you know of that are loved THAT MUCH by their students, to raise that much money and buy him a new ipod on such short notice, during such horrible economic times? He is worth the extra mile to us, because he makes us feel like we are worth it to him.

Unlike all of the other teachers whom I have encountered, Mr. Gartner is there for his students both inside, and outside of the classroom. He is a great teacher, and just an amazing person in general. He is neglected, and sometimes taken-for-granted by other teachers and school administrators, just because they don't feel that the teachings of the German language are as important as some of the other things that the school has to offer. They don't understand. We learn SO much more from him than just how to speak German. We learn how to laugh our way through the hard things that life throws at us.We learn how to accept the beauty of imperfection, and that the flaws are what we all have that make us unique from one another.

A limitation of 1,000 words will never be enough to describe what an outstanding teacher Mr. Gartner is. He is a teacher, a student, a friend, a comedian, an inspiration, a second chance, something to write about, a reason to smile, or whatever else it is that you need for him to be to help get you through the day. I write this in hopes of gaining Mr. Gartner just a small percentage of the recognition that he deserves for the things that he has done, and the ways that he has helped all of us. This is just another one of my many attempts to express my gratitude for the many ways that he has personally changed my life.