In the past few years, I have had some really good teachers. Many of them are worthy of the title “Educator of the Year.” But the one teacher that I believe deserves Educator of the Year the most is my American government teacher at the Delaware Military Academy (DMA), Mr. John O’Kneski. His students, past and present current students call him “Mr. O.”

One reason why I believe Mr. O is the best choice for this is that he’s qualifications. Before teaching American government, he taught several other classes; he has taught American history, 20th century U.S. history, world history and psychology. At Delaware State University, he took some Education Certification Courses which qualified him as a teacher. Mr. O also has a degree and has taken courses from three different Collages in the U.S. All of them contribute to his current job teaching at DMA. From Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey, he has a BA in Political Science. At LaSalle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and at the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware, he has taken post graduate courses on political science, international law, and a class on politics of developing nations. Also, he is a fully accredited social studies teacher by the Delaware Department of Education. So, it’s pretty safe to say that when he teaches a class, he knows what he is talking about.



Another reason why I believe that Mr. O deserves this honor is because of his teaching methods. On normal class days, he has a lesson planned. Depending on what we are learning, we would have a lesson about amendments in the Bill of Rights, early American government, or Supreme Court cases that are related to the lesson. Mr. O also teaches us about current events in the world. Similarly, our homework assignments include summarizing current political events.


Finally, Mr. O is an all-around fair teacher. He is fair with homework assignments and late work. The only homework that we usually have is current events due Monday or Friday, studying for tests, chapter questions and finishing in-class assignments. Chapter questions are assigned on test days, and we t finish in-class assignments in class.
I hope that whoever reading this definitely considers Mr. O’Kneski for educator of the year. I probably speak for a lot of the cadets at DMA when I say, that “Mr. O deserves this award.” Thank you.