For most kids, I dare say high school is a nightmare. You wake up early to go somewhere against your will with a bunch of people you can't stand. That's it in a nutshell, and that's how I felt most every day of my adolescent life. Retrospectively that was obviously the wrong attitude to have.
It wasn't until maturity I thought to look back and think about how grateful I am, and how grateful I should have been for brilliant teachers like Brian Jaeger.
Brian has the mind boggling ability to identify creativity in someone, help them build an interest where there might have been none, nurture their skills, and open the door to worlds they never would have bothered to seek out. He always seemed to gauge the skills of a student to teach them accordingly, always encouraging them to improve.
He was responsible for in conception of a creative writing class I had the good fortune to enroll in, which drove young writers to break out of their shells and actually experiment with one of the most powerful tools available to them, a tool which people seem to neglect ever more in an increasingly digital world, the English language.
And how did he manage to do this so well? It was simple; he made it fun where others could not. Assignments were never overly constricting by design, and he treated new ideas as they should be treated, with interest. He added weight to the work by suggesting students submit to national contests or publishing outlets in order for them to understand what it's like to write in the real world. Never before or since have I encountered a teacher with such initiative.
I cannot recommend Brian enough. If you're looking for someone who's great with people and who has a vast knowledge of technology and the English language, look no further.
Sincerely,
Jacob Woelfel
Former Student
