My own Mrs. Frizzle by Zaire

My own Mrs. Frizzle by Zaire - July 2014 Scholarship Essay

She was the twenty year older Mrs. Frizzle. She had seen the dark side of the moon but she knew what kept a 7th graders attention. I wasn’t a bad student, but history had only consisted of dead white guys and silly miscommunications. Mrs. Simpson brought everything from the Aztecs to Mali to the Hun to vibrant technicolor. She weaved history into a feature-length movie. With interactive plays and projects history became muscle memory. She used analogies between grammar, our text, and pop culture to relate to us.

Before her class I regarded what I learned in school as static facts on a paper. English, Science, Math, and History were all something to learn and forget.
Now I see learning as something exciting.

I see learning as a tool towards growing into a better person. That knowledge is necessary to becoming a great person in society.

I have no stories of any personal acts of awesome. She commanded the classroom and kept everyone in line. The class itself was uneventful. Students walked in, learned for 2 hours and then left. We went on one school trip. Nothing happened.

But Mrs. Simpson will always be a great teacher. During the school year I saw her as a hard-grader and a hassle to please. In hindsight, she marked a turning point.