Mr. Witters: Biology Teacher Extraordinaire by Haley

Mr. Witters: Biology Teacher Extraordinaire by Haley - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

In a typical science classroom you can find microscopes, test tubes, educational posters, and textbooks, but in my junior year College Biology classroom, you could also find something much more special: inspiration.

Mr. Witters was an unusual teacher, and you could tell with one look at him and around his room. All sorts of plants dangled from the ceiling and it wasn't unusual to walk in and find a worm farm on your desk decomposing an apple core, some crazy fossil, or a shovel and a ton of dirt sprinkled on the ground. The atmosphere of his classroom was completely different than what you would expect of a college level course, but it is what made the incredibly challenging class bearable, dare I say enjoyable. This was a man that could identify any bird sound you threw at him, even able to distinguish between different types of owls or finches. He wasn't just some crazy guy that wanted to be a real scientist but didn't make the cut. He was unbelievably knowledgeable in his field, and could tell you stories of his work in real world science. He had all of his students respect.

From day one, it was clear that Mr. Witters' form of teaching and interacting with his students would be different. Rather than pacing back and forth at the front of the room while lecturing on some boring subject, he would sit casually on a stool and talk about it like you would talk about what you did over the weekend. He was always overflowing with excitement, even with seemingly mundane subjects. He helped us through the toughest parts, using extended metaphors to explain confusing topics--such as a Lamborghini manufacturing factory to represent Transcription and Translation, or a book on a bookshelf to represent a gene on a chromosome. His ideas were just crazy enough to make sense.

Our projects were designed by him to teach us lessons in biology, but also lessons in life. For instance, our main recurring project--entitled "Biology Outside of the Walls"--called for each student to go to a park of his or her choosing and explore for at least one hour, taking note of the things around you and later writing up a description of your experience there. This project allowed us to apply our biology knowledge that we were building up in class to the real world, but it did so much more. It taught us to appreciate nature. It gave us the opportunity to get off our technology and go explore the beautiful surroundings of the creek or the forest. It also helped us practice our observation skills and scientific writing. To us students, this project just seemed like some fun time outside. Little did we know all of these lessons were being passed on to us, just as Mr. Witters had intended.

I'll never forget the first lesson we learned in his class. He called it "Chapter 0" because it wasn't even in the suggested curriculum. The reason he added this information to our learning path was because he genuinely cared about us. That isn't a terribly common characteristic of high school teachers these days. Chapter 0 was all about us. He told us that no matter what others say, we CAN succeed. He said that he believed in each and every one of us. This lesson taught us about the importance of believing in ourselves. He also showed us how to take notes and how to study in a way that will help us more. All of these things he wanted us to know to prepare us for our futures, and I am certain that we all came out of that unit as more mature and better prepared students; all because one teacher decided that we were worth his time and energy.

Mr. Witters has impacted my education in ways I can hardly even describe. His life lessons (sneakily scattered throughout his biology lessons) will stay with me for the rest of my life. When I feel like I am just not cut out to succeed, or that I am a failure, I can remember that he believed in me. He gave me the tools I need to become successful and to be happy. I will forever be grateful for having him as my teacher.