Mr. Reed

Elizabeth Gerger:

Thank you Mr. Reed for everything you’ve done for me over the past year. You teach one of the hardest subjects to teach. It could easily be boring, but you bring the class to life and I thank you so much for that. You put so much time into your teaching and your students and it does not go unnoticed. Thank you for letting me retake quizzes 15 times. Thank you for listening to me rant about my problems and giving me advice. And thank you for being such an amazing teacher. I’m always happy when I walk into your classroom because I know that not only will I have fun, but I will receive a good amount of severe sarcasm. Everyday walking into your classroom helps me get through the rest of the day. I’m so happy that you are living your dream and becoming a principal. FHC has been so lucky to have you this long.

Leslie Sutton:

I’ve honestly written this letter three times because I have no idea where to start, what small point of everything that you are to focus on, and I feel like anywhere I will start, I will never be able to encompass all that you’ve done for me as a student and how much that means to me. Here goes nothing.

Mr. Reed, you know how much I adore biology, and how I will stop at nothing to keep learning about it while keeping a light heart. However, I, before this year, considered a physics and engineering major. I had spent all four years of high school wondering, asking myself, ‘where will I fit best?’ and I know you’ve brought me to the place I really belong. I’ve never had a teacher allow me to explore my options like this and tell me that they see passion in something I’m unable to recognize in myself, and sometimes a kid just needs someone to point that out for them. Honestly it’s just a few simple things that you’ve said that have helped me find where I want to be. You may not think it means much but ‘oh you’ll get this no problem,’ or ‘you’re a total dork about this stuff – and I mean that in the best way’ really means the world. You’ve opened so many doors for me and I cannot thank you enough.

I think the first moment that I realized how much you value your students and all they aspire to do is that one time during a pep assembly when I asked if I could just stay in the class and work on the lab we were completing in that period. You saw how much I wanted to work with it, and you let it happen, and then after I got what I needed from the lab, we just talked about different things in science we found interesting and went over different spotify playlists. I really appreciate when teachers are one on one with students and just talk to them about what they want to do and where they want to be, because it shows they care beyond the grades they put into infinite campus and the 2:20 bell. You care so much about your students and their understanding of everything you do. Everything you do, every worksheet you write or quiz you give is for our benefit, and there’s no doubt about it.

You are so incredibly passionate about all you do here. Every day you step foot in your classroom and give the day your all, and that’s honestly amazing. Never have I left the classroom thinking ‘Man, he just really didn’t want to be here today’ and that’s an accomplishment in itself. Every day you miss for your pursuits of something bigger, I don’t hear students rejoice for an easy day, but rather students speaking about how upset they are that you’re gone, and I feel that wholeheartedly. Then, the next day, when you come back, you explain to us how much you missed the classroom, but why your absence was necessary, which builds a relationship with students I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. You’re genuine with students, and as people trying to figure out who we are, sometimes that’s just what we truly need, so thank you.

All in all, I really, really appreciate you as a teacher, Mr. Reed. You’ve confirmed so much for me and allowed me to understand it’s totally okay to pursue whatever you truly want and show your adoration for it, regardless of challenges. You’ve proven to me that hey, things aren’t going to be so bad, and I can handle it.

Emily Stone:

You probably don’t know how much you really affected me, but, well, it’s more than you’ll ever know. If I didn’t have you for Biology, 2 things probably would have come from that. One, I wouldn’t know how awesome science is. You being my bio teacher really opened my eyes to the world of science, and I blame, and thank, your teaching methods for that. Second, I wouldn’t be me.

Freshman Emily really loved cheerleading, but the people who I cheered with didn’t quite like me for some unknown reason, maybe I was too weird, maybe it was my laugh, or maybe it was because I LOVE to read. Freshman Emily convinced herself that I didn’t need to be social to be ok, so I made myself a very thick operculum made of books and fake smiles to get through the year.

At the end of the year I told myself that I will fit in, and if that meant that I would have to do some serious self change, I was okay with that as long as I got them to like me. I told myself that as soon as school started I would change. Then I met you. And when the first thing that you did was show that you were confident in yourself by being goofy and by pointing out what people would say before they even got the chance. It really took me back that you were so comfortable in your own shoes. It made my plan change a bit.

I didn’t right away change myself, but I did try to fit in a bit. But they still didn’t like me and just being in your class and you being you and rocking it and not really caring what people would think too much. It showed me that I didn’t have to care about what people thought of me and what they said. So instead of fitting in I started being more me.

I laughed the loudest that I could, I read my books, I was goofy and cracked jokes. And stopped trying to be one of them and started trying to be me. By the end of that year I stopped making it be my world that they accept me and started trying to accept myself and now I love who I am. I’m not going to say I didn’t care anymore because everyone cares a bit. And when I think of not having you as a teacher … it scares me because I wouldn’t be me I would have changed myself and I would be someone completely different or not here at all. Idk I just want you to know that you affect people way beyond just the classroom and into their lives.

Jessie Mavros:
I don’t even know where to start. Maybe that I regret not taking your class as a senior because I miss it a lot now. Or that I miss the continuous insults at students and them doing it right back, all out of fun. But I would say that I miss the subject the most, and how you taught it. Granted, I wasn’t all that great at the botany part, but I proved myself with the zoology part, naturally, since it was far more interesting and not sleep-inducing in the slightest. I deeply appreciated how you would challenge us, and while taking your class, that is definitely not how I felt, but I feel it now, especially since you told the juniors too late not to take certain science classes after taking yours. Silly goose, you should put that speech into your plan like, a month ahead of time. But that’s okay, no hard feelings… Dumbo. But! I just want to thank you for everything that you taught me and for making Zobot, a college worthy class, fun for mere high schoolers. I enjoyed every minute I had in your class, truly, and I am excited for you to become a principal because that will be fun for your future students. I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors, and thank you for giving me so many great high school memories.