“Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention please?”

To say that this teacher knows a little of everything would be a farce. A more accurate summation of his knowledge would sound more like this: this teacher knows a lot of everything.

Consider first his academic subject of choice. It’s the study of, quite literally, everything. Anything you can think of is a product of it (something I learned over the course of two years spent in this man’s classroom.) I’m referring to the not-so-simple science of chemistry, and the teacher I’d like to take a moment to appreciate is one who happens to be a bit of a celebrity amongst his students.

Over the years, multitudes of aspiring chemists, curious beginners, and explosion enthusiasts have sat in this man’s ever-orderly classroom. Each of these students has come to expect several things from this dedicated man of science, one of which lies in the way that he starts class each hour. After acquiring everyone’s attention, he offers up a hearty greeting and expects everyone in the room to do the same. One might expect this routine, played out every day for two years, to grow tiresome. Somehow, after all this time, this chemistry ritual has become anything but mundane.

When I hear “Good afternoon, sixth hour,” a faint smile always finds its way across my face, even if that smile is later torn away by a heavy dose of molecular orbital theory or stoichiometry.

In regards to this teacher’s lessons, I really can’t complain. He manages to pair most of his lectures with a demonstration or lab, keeping things interesting and very hands-on. All of the information that is presented in his note packets is done so in a straightforward way, and with a few of his classic chemistry jokes peppered in, rarely does a student experience a dull hour in this man’s classroom.

This teacher cares deeply about his students, despite his best efforts to convince them otherwise (he regularly reminds us: “I’m the tin man. Tink, tink, no heart.”) He clearly loves what he does, and he’s always there for his students when they’re in need of a “chemistry cheer.”

He is Mr. John Kozlowski.