In my freshman year, I stood in the front of room C110, shaking. High school was so big for such a little me and with English being my worst subject, I was worried I might not do so well. But as class began, Mr. Woodin introduced himself by cracking as many dad jokes as possible in a short time, and as class went on I felt my anxieties melt away. I realized that high school wasn’t as bad as I thought.

In Mr. Woodin’s class, I sat in the front, also called the “mushpot”, which also meant it was the perfect spot for us to talk. I shared my dream to become an artist with him, and he was supportive—gifting me pens, models, and anything he had that could help me achieve that. Another pro of sitting in the front was the hundreds of sticky notes kept on the table used for annotating notes that I used for doodles. I stuck them everywhere, on the desks, books, chairs, and on the wall. The sticky notes might still even be on his wall!

In terms of teaching, Mr. Woodin was very engaging and made everything easy to understand. When we read Romeo and Juliet, he translated all the complicated Shakespeare language and explained background information and actions throughout reading. He reinforced our understanding of the text by asking our class to act out the battle of Romeo and Tybalt with cardboard rolls. We even moved all the tables to the edges of the classroom to make space. To this day, that is the part of Romeo and Juliet I remember the most. This was also done with other readings such as Crying in H Mart, Fish Cheeks. Although my class didn’t act them out, he still taught with the same thoroughness.

Even after I was no longer in his class, Mr. Woodin still helped me in any way he could, such as rereading my essays for any mistakes to ensure I continue to do well in English.

During lunch, Mr. Woodin welcomes many others and myself into his classroom to eat. And to others passing by, always greeting them and being friendly to everyone telling them to “Watch out for freshmen”. Sometimes, we would get to catch up, talking about how high school is going and new books.

Thank you, Mr. Woodin, for making my high school experience better, making everyone (including myself) feel welcomed, and being an amazing teacher.