“I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework. ” Lily Tomlin.

My sophomore and junior years of high school I had Mr. Clissold for environmental and Earth sciences. My sophomore year I originally signed up for Earth science class because we built rockets at the end of the year and I heard it was easy. I knew nothing about Mr. Clissold other than him being the loud teacher in the upstairs science halls. But instead of getting Earth science I got placed in environmental science. I tried my hardest to get out of that class without messing up my entire schedule but it wasn’t possible, so I was forced to stay. On the first day of school, I walked into his classroom and he immediately became my favorite teacher. His sense of humor, the way he talks and treats the students, the stories and my favorite, the sound effects.

I also fell in love with the class and everything about it. No matter what topic, everything seemed to click and I got all A’s on everything. After environmental science was over, I took Earth science junior year and loved that class too. Those classes taught me an insane amount of stuff that I can actually use in my everyday life, unlike most of the stuff we learn in school anyway. After I took Environmental science with Clissold it made me want to pursue a career in that field. I am looking to go to college to become an environmental engineer and help do what I can to make the world cleaner and more energy efficient.

My family eventually got sick of hearing about Mr. Clissold’s stories and Mr. Clissold’s weather predictions because I talked about him and the classes so much at home. After a while, when it was going to snow or storm my mom would text me in school to ask Mr. Clissold about

his weather predictions. The reason I picked the quote at the top is because teachers shouldn’t just teach you the curriculum and hope it sticks. Teachers should change kids lives and make a lasting impact and that is what Mr. Clissold has done.