“Today we will be starting to read my favorite book The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn. Quit your whining. Its good.” This may seem like this teacher is mean and grumpy, but that was what he did best. Mr. Gierach was a man that used his football coaching technique to get us to care about a little boy sailing on a raft.
The start of second semester begins and students just want summer to be here. We want out of this school and never to look back. I walk in to my ninth hour class….English 11. Great. Just another class with stupid books and more essays to write. That is how most students felt about any English class, but with Gierach it was different.
Mr. Gierach knew exactly how we all felt about school, but he showed no sympathy. After the first chapter of the book we despised, we all came in complaining. All he did was laugh in our faces. Us students didn't know what to do so we dissed the book. After the room got quiet he pulled out a stool and sat in the front of the room staring at all of us. He asked us who our hero was in our life. Some said Superman, others, said Batman. He then began to tell us that the little boy on the raft who didn't know how to read was his hero.
He made us love reading a book that we didn't think we would ever enjoy. He helped us learn about life outside of school. He helped us with grammar and punctuation. He helped me become a better person in understanding why school is so important. I thank him in all that he does for our school. He is the best teacher of the year.