Chelsea-Faith

Chelsea Swenson

Steve Dalager

College Comp.

10/22/07

Essay 3

The Ultimate Teacher

            Mrs. Julie DeFore was one of the best teachers Floodwood had ever seen.  I think many people would agree with me. Of course there are going to be those people that didn’t like her, but the number of students who liked her definitely outnumbers those who didn’t.  She was the business teacher at my high school.  Yes, keyword was.  Last year was her last, unfortunately.  She moved on to a different job. 

She is terribly missed this year. She made it fun to be in her class, you could joke around with her and she wouldn’t get all mad like some teachers do.  She understood what it was like to be a teenager, where as some teachers seem to forget sometimes.  She knew how to balance work and play in the classroom.  She also taught things really well, and she made sure that you understood it.  She didn’t just go on, even though you didn’t get it.

A couple of years ago our school was remodeled and added on to.  We now have a beautiful school.  Our school is one if not the nicest school in our area. You can bet that it cost a lot of money to make those changes though. It resulted in a lot of money issues.

            We students didn’t really hear a lot about the money issues until the end of last year.  We started hearing all sorts of crazy things that were going to be happening to our school.  Some things were true and others weren’t.  Some of the things we heard included: teachers were being fired or cut to part-time,  sports fees were going to be bumped up to fifty dollars (when originally they were twenty-five dollars), and that different teaching positions would be eliminated all together. 

            We found out that our principal was loony; she was going around telling teachers that they were being cut hours or pay, or that they were not going to be coming back next year. Those subjects hadn’t even been discussed with the school board yet!  So teachers at that time were all looking for new jobs because they were basically told that they were fired or receiving a pay cut.  It was a pretty hectic time for everyone, including us students.  All the teachers were crabby, and always talking with one another.  Worst of all, they gave tons of work.

            In the end of this charade everything ended up staying the same except for we have no librarian, and some elementary and Para-Professionals were let go. 

Mrs. DeFore, like every other teacher, had started to look for a new job.  She had received an offer from a school down in
Illinois. 
Illinois is where she and her husband are originally from, so all of their family lives down there.  It was a tough decision because she liked it here, and she coached softball for about four years.  She had been my coach since I was in about eighth grade, so basically her team was graduating in just one to two years.  She said softball is what made it so hard for her to decide to stay or go.  She also said, “It’s
Chelsea’s senior year.” P.S. this year is supposed to be a good year for us.  But anyways, the job down there was going to pay less, but she also had to think, “How long is this job in Floodwood going to last?  Could they cut me next year?”  She could never have known those answers.  She took the
Illinois offer.  I really don’t blame her for taking it though.  As much as I wanted her to stay, she probably would be better off going there.

            Because Mrs. DeFore left we now have a new Business teacher.  Her name is Ms. Bush.  She used to be an elementary teacher at Floodwood.  She doesn’t know Business at all, and we don’t really learn anything in her classes. But the important thing is that she tries, and I give her credit for that.  Mrs. DeFore and Ms. Bush have very different teaching styles and personalities.