by Karen Greenberg

Created on: March 30, 2009

Testimonies: Remembering a Wonderful Teacher
What makes a teacher great? The ability to control a classroom, yet make the environment and subject fun. A wonderful teacher is one whose students know they can talk to him at any time about anything and feel safe. An incredible teacher takes the most boring content in the world and makes it come to life. Mr. Larry Langstaff was (and probably still is) just that teacher.

Entering the seventh grade I was the typical girl you hear about in all the studies. I had the brains to understand science, but my confidence held me back. That is, until I entered Mr. Langstaff's class. It didn't take long for me to look forward to 5th period science class. I was lucky enough to be assigned to Mr. Langstaff's 8th grade science class the next year. In 9th grade I picked the elective he was teaching, just so I could spend another year with a great instructor. Girls CAN excel in science if given the right motivation and teaching style.
Mr. Langstaff's lessons were composed in such a way that students didn't even realize they were learning. We had fun in class, but not so much fun that the environment was out of control or uncomfortable. We learned jokes that helped us remember the different cloud structures. We wrote a story from the view point of a cell to learn the parts of a cell (I still have that paper 22 years later). We launched model rockets on the football field, safety procedures being pointed out but not pounded into our heads in a way that would make us feel like our teacher didn't trust us.
Mr. Langstaff was the type of teacher that made students comfortable when talking to him. He was kind and considerate, and he seemed to understand the adolescent brain. Mr. Langstaff could somehow remind a budding teenager that there was more to life than the cutest boy in the school while still coming across as caring about feelings.
I remember one Friday morning when Mr. Langstaff approached me and asked if we could talk. I thought for sure I was in trouble, but that was not the case. I had been dating a boy whose mother had cancer. Mr. Langstaff was the one who had to break the news to me that Matt's mother had passed away that morning. This was my very first experience with death, and having Mr. Langstaff break the news was heartbreaking yet comforting. If there was one person on the staff at our school who understood me, it was that man. He let me know he was available to talk, then he left me alone to absorb the information I had just been given.
Mr. Langstaff was an outstanding teacher who changed my life. About a year and a half ago I ran into him at a high school football game. I had the unique opportunity to thank the instructor I most looked up to and tell him how he had changed my life. I will never forget the smile of thanks I got. Teachers enjoy being told they have made a difference.
I will be graduating with my elementary education degree in a little less than two years. Mr. Langstaff didn't only touch my life as a young student, he has made an impact as an adult as well. After my encounter with him at the football game I finally found the courage to follow a life-long dream and re-enrolled in college. I can only hope that I am able to be as important to the life of one student as Mr. Langstaff was to me.

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