Students who have him know his teaching style all too well, although when you first come into the class, you might not notice it. In fact, you might think he is just a bit too laid-back with the casual jokes and sports talk to start off the hour. As the year goes on, however, you will notice something: along with the jokes and the stories, you are learning. Even the most unlikely story may have a tie in to the amendment you are studying; the latest news is picked apart with the aid of what you have learned about the constitution. Suddenly, you apply constitutional amendments and the bill of rights to real-life situations.

And you are also having fun. Through the biting sarcasm, you find humor. He can balance full lesson with a conversation about how the team is doing, and you somehow get everything done and retain that information.

And you are enjoying government class, even though the material is so dry you could soak up the Great Lakes with it. You look forward to the sarcasm, the daily discussions that somehow make legal text more than 200 years old relevant and interesting. You look forward to the debates, because no one is afraid to debate in that class, and it merely makes the memorization easier.

Mr. Beckmann, your class makes even American Government interesting, and your students appreciate you. Thank you.