Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of five stories in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week.

Taking my first steps into Niles West High school as a freshman, I couldn’t have been more terrified. After coming from such a small school being able to know everyone, the drastic change was overwhelming. Little would I know that I would be one of the lucky students to have Mr. Kyle Braheny as not only a teacher, but as a mentor to help make me feel less alone and to point me in the right direction.

I’ve always been one to struggle in math, so the last thing I walked into class with was confidence. Frantically looking for familiar faces to sit by, I was welcomed with the biggest smile and the most eager voice. For the rest of the year, I was welcomed every morning by the same way.

Each day, Braheny made me eager to actually want to learn math. As the year went on, he got to know me more as a student and what the best possible ways were to teach me. The way he went out of his way always for each student to teach them individually in order to make them succeed as much as they could really made Braheny stand out to all of his students more than he already did.

“I never had a teacher who went out of his way to really know how to teach each student the way they learn the best. He was the only teacher who would ever do that for me. Him also always being in a great mood put me in the right mindset to want to give everything my best,” senior Vanessa Pelinkovic said.

The years of me coming home on the brink of tears while holding the failing grade on a math test was now a distant memory ever since I had the privilege of having Mr. Braheny for math for two years. Not only was it me who was being grateful, but also my parents. He is one of the teachers who truly loves his job and gives it his all every day. I believe that Braheny is the ideal teacher that can put any student in the right path to make them successful, and who truly cares.

Mr. Braheny completely changed my outlook on learning to problem solve and most importantly, never giving up.  Still to this day, when I see Braheny in the halls, I am welcomed with the biggest smile and eager voice to put me in the best moods to succeed, which I am forever grateful for.

Previous installment in the series: 

Colleen Gogerty – http://www.nileswestnews.org/features/teachers-appreciation-week-thank-you-mrs-gogerty/