Editor’s Note: In honor of teacher appreciation week, five NWN staff members have chosen a teacher to write about. These teachers have made an impact on our lives, and we would like to show them our appreciation. Look for more articles throughout the week.

Sharon Swanson is one of those teachers who enjoys and loves what she does. Every day she walks in with positive energy, ready to being an exciting and fun day in English class. She encourages students to work hard and puts in her entire effort to make sure students are successful.

Ms. Swanson is one of those teachers who can teach her class and also have fun while doing it. She does everything from making up hilarious new words to dancing in front of the class. Along with that, she doesn’t follow the traditional way of teaching a class, where a teacher walks in, talks for a very long time, and leaves. She provides interesting and new ways to get her point across.

I remember in the beginning of the year we did a unit of teenage decisions. She made us research into the lives of many teenagers who had died while doing things that were risky and dangerous. Afterwards, we had to present ourselves in front of the class as if we were those teenagers. After we finished the entire unit, she made us take an oath that we would never put ourselves in a risky situation. She really cares about all of her students and she also wishes that they have a successful life.

I also admire how Ms. Swanson takes out her time, no matter how busy she is, to sit down and help her students. I remember when she selected a few students in order to perform in Poetry Out Loud she would meet us a few times before the event to critique us so that we would be able to perform really well in front of the class.

Ms. Swanson is also one of those teachers who knows how to teach information and also have fun in class. Often times, students will ask Ms. Swanson to tell us her life story, and she willingly tells us the story of her interesting life.

And finally, she teaches her topics in a new style. Just a few weeks back, she assigned us to act out the trial from the book  Inherit the Wind. She selected me to be a lawyer even though I am very shy and don’t talk a lot in class. She told me to be confident in myself.

I am very lucky to have an English teacher like Ms. Swanson. This year has just flown by and I will really miss Ms. Swanson and her English class next year.