At P.S. DuPont Middle School, one teacher was different from all the others. He decorated his classroom with multi stage rockets and there were computers all over the place. There was even a laser printer in the room. This man was someone that you could talk to for a long time and the conversation would always be interesting. This man, this teacher is Mr. John Singer of P.S. DuPont Middle School.

Mr. Singer was the Tech ED and STEM teacher for P.S. He stood out to me because of the way he made every class an activity and made class fun. He would make the classes do team building exercises before doing projects to get the class as unified as possible. The projects covered a wide variety of topics and also had a separate connection to science. Every project had something to do with one or more of Newton’s laws and or theories. These projects that the classes worked on went from bridges made of toothpicks to cardboard boats. But before we did the projects, we had to do the prep work.

After we would get all the prep work done, we would start the actual projects that included: toothpick bridges, solid fuel rockets, and full sized cardboard boats. The brides we had to pick a design and then the bridges had to hold at least 110 pounds. The rockets, we had to make a nosecone, parachute, fins, and paint for the rocket and it had to go high up then safely return to the surface. The boats were the most fun. We had to come up with a design for the boats, make the boats out of a set amount of cardboard slabs, and then build the boats. What made this project the best in my mind was that we went to the school pool and had to race the other classes in the boat. This event was so big that there was a news crew there to record the races and interview some of the racers. He did the best he could for his classes even if his budget from the school didn’t cover it.

Mr. Singer didn’t stop with his normal classes he went to after school activities as well. He coached many different things including Lego league which I was a part of. The event that we did he would help us by giving us instructions but that would be all. He would give us ideas when we needed them, he would help with building if we needed it. He would also steer us in the right direction if he felt that we were getting off course. He let us do most of the work as a group. So when the team earned the award for Best research out of two dozen teams not including us, it made that small victory seem all the sweeter.

I say that Mr. Singer was the best teacher I ever had. We had a good friendship and his corny jokes about technology really never seemed to get old. I’m glad I had the privilege to be in his class and be able to meet this man who helps students learn about the vast world of technology. That is why I nominate Mr. John Singer of P.S. DuPont Middle School for educator of the year.