PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

When I lived in Venezuela I had a homeroom teacher named Ralph Fahnestock. I remember that he always came to the classroom with the best of moods to teach us something new. The enthusiasm with which he taught was really admirable, he made all his classes entertaining; he’d share fun videos related to the subjects, or just anything to make us laugh a little. I remember that he loved to write, and often gave us blank sheets of paper and told us to write about something, whatever came to our mind. He wanted us to express ourselves through writing, to somehow fall in love with words and realize how beautiful it is to be able to express thoughts, feelings or memories with just a pen and a piece of paper. I also remember that he loved music so much and every week he’d play songs or music pieces of an artist that he personally liked a lot and talked a little about them. At school, Mr. Fahnestock belonged to the Community Choir, he used to say that singing, especially with more people, somehow brings joy or simply makes you feel good. He was also a peace promoting leader and an art enthusiast, I remember once at school he organized an event called Ubuntu which is African for "I am because we are." He thought, "How can one of us be happy when the other ones are sad?" The event was a cultural show, there were dance performances, singing, poetry, among other arts and in the end all the money that was gathered was sent to Africa. For Mr. Fahnestock, it was important to make others feel good. He was always looking for a way to interact with all his students and getting to know them, even the most shy and introverted. On the last day of school, he asked us one by one to step in front of the classroom and gave each one of us a speech about what he liked most about having us as his students. It was amazing how he always knew the right words to say to make everyone feel special. I realized that for him, being a teacher wasn’t just about teaching, but caring about his students, bringing out the best in them and believing in them.