A Letter to my Favorite Teacher

Throughout my four years in high school, and the nine years of schooling before that, I rarely had a teacher more than once. In fact, I only had one teacher more than once. But when you have a teacher multiple times, it changes the classroom from a lecture hall with an unfamiliar person, to a classroom with someone you know is there to help you get the most out of your education.

Mr. Haubenreich (Haubs) was no stranger to the Atkinson name. He taught my sister 10 years before and now was unknowingly about to teach the second of the oddly age gaped sisters. Me. I joined Spanish because it's exactly what my sister did, and I was one for following in safe footsteps, but Haubs made it go from ‘going through the motions’ into a class that I enjoyed and wanted to really be a part of.

There is a difference between going to school and learning. There needs to be a want for education, and most teachers that I know haven’t been able to unlock that want in me. I go through the routine of going to English, then math, science, and lunch. But when I walk into Spanish, it’s like I’m transported to wherever Haubs wants to take us that day to learn about.

I first had him when I was a sophomore in Spanish III, then for the last time in Spanish V. It was new and inviting everyday, I couldn't have asked for a better experience.

The passion that he has for teaching us is unlike anything I've ever seen before. I can tell that he truly wants us to want to learn and he goes above and beyond to make it feel like more of an experience than a class. He is the teacher that younger kids look forward to having when they enter higher levels of spanish. To see Habus on your schedule on the first day of school is the equivalent of getting what you asked Santa for on Christmas. You already know that he is the best teacher you could get and it's about to be a fun year. He makes it fun to learn and no one is ever 'too cool' to participate in the activities. We are the class that annoyingly enters other spanish classes just to sing a song for them, or have taco parties becuase we are doing well in class.

He really knows how to connect with students and develop a sense of trust in them. I feel like I could go to him with anything and he would be willing to help. He is a precious person that deserves all the best in life and I'm sad that I am writing this as a senior and wont be able to have him as an educator ever again. But the time that I have had him has been unforgettable and has changed my ideas on learning. He has given me life experience that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.