Mr. Cissell
Haley Mills:
Dear Mr. Cissel,
From the moment I walked into your classroom on my second day at FHC, I instantly felt at home and at ease. You were the first person I had made a connection with and that connection has just been growing ever since.
The constant reassurance that everything was going to be fine when I was diagnosed with acute renal failure, and the continuous prayers while the test results were still up in the air. I cannot thank you enough for the presence you played in the lowest part of my life.
Although we may not talk everyday, you never fail to say hi and put a smile on my face. For that reason, I can not think of a more deserving teacher to be appreciated during teacher appreciate week.
I think that as a teacher you have a basic job description, to teach kids. But what it doesn’t say in your job description is that you will provide advice, a place of comfort and joy, may laughs, and memories. However these are things you do on a daily basis without even noticing.
The impact you have had on me, and many others, are ones that will last a lifetime. Thank you.
With love and respect,
Haley Mills
Ms. Kelley
Mrs. Kelley laughs with her second hour AP World History students.
Dear Ms. Kelley,
Teacher Appreciation Week is from May 8 to May 12, 2023, I believe, and this friendly yet war torn letter has been carefully written and censored by an impersonator of a historical figure, identified as Colin Nichols, to appreciate teachers such as you for your extremely great teaching skills, wonderful jokes, and all around outgoing personality leading to a wonderful class atmosphere.
In my opinion, which is corroborated by many others deeming the following statement historically accurate, your Genghis Khanga during the pep assembly before Prom, today, was extremely hilarious and wonderful. It once again proves that you are single handedly the most “hip” teacher at FHC. This is another quality that makes your class enjoyable.
But your knowledge of pop-culture is not only the focus of this letter, but your in-depth explanations of the textbook and information you teach in class. I frequently find myself thinking no other teacher could ever teach this class as well as you do. Your explanations follow so much logic that is sometimes hard to find elsewhere in the world, and if there is any confusion found on the faces of classmates, you’ll know and consequently reword your reasoning. Like Karl Marx, your ideology in class is to fight knowledge capitalism and promote fully equal understanding, where everyone understands, or knowledge communism. These terms are not fully logical; there is significant doubt and I don’t think I’ll get the point for complexity. But I wonder if you think I would earn the point.
Anyway, I am having a lot of fun right now trying to create as many historical references and college board grading jokes as possible, but truly I need to get back on track and keep order like Francisco Pizzaro in 1535. I must’ve learned this skill from you, Ms. Kelley, because every time you go off on a tangent or the class starts a joke, you always manage to allow some time for fun but maintain focus as well. This is another wonderful quality of your class that you should know is very appreciated by classmates and me.
Once again, thank you for turning a difficult and stressful class into something that I look forward to coming and learning more about each day. I hope that you are getting the appreciation you deserve. Now, it is time for me to depart, and I know that after leaving from la clase de historia del mundo AP en España, I will then reach the Americas, not Asia, and something tells me that after I leave this class, life will be sweet. Sugary(this may be crossing a line).
Fondly,
Colin Nichols