VWHS seniors praise favorite teachers

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert High School seniors got the chance to tell their favorite teachers about the impact they had on their lives during the 17th annual Teacher Appreciation Dinner held at Willow Bend Country Club on Tuesday evening.

A total of 10 VWHS seniors, including those with the top five grade point averages in the Class of 2012, read essays they wrote to their favorite teachers. Five selected students, including Matthew McMichael, Jack Moonshower, Kody Heitz, Danielle Hitchcock and Kelsey Rodman, chose teachers Karen Dull, Brenda Rhodes, Charlie Witten, Deb Dibert and Dave Walker, respectively, as their favorite teachers, while the five seniors with the top GPAs (all 4.0 this year), Daniel Bashore, Molly Gamble, Taylor Grooms, Katie Kline and Nathan Knodel, chose as their favorite teachers, respectively, Tonia Gamble, Bob Priest, Bob Sloan, Mary Kramer and Lois Gehres.

Former VWCS school psychologist Randy Gardner, who organized the event in 1996 because of the impact three teachers — teacher and guidance counselor Ralph Gallapoo (his grandfather), Ohio High School Football Hall of Fame coach Gil Smith and biology teacher Glen Livingston — had on his life. The event is funded through the Van Wert City Endowment Fund for Educators, which is administered by The Van Wert County Foundation, said he looked forward each year to reading the letters students submit about their favorite teachers, adding that this year’s batch were all well-written, which likely pleased the English teachers in the room.

“You never know who you are going to touch when you are in education,” said VWCS Superintendent Ken Amstutz, which could be the motto of the 17-year event.

Bashore, who plans to major in psychology and music at Miami University, said he hadn’t even planned on going out for choir at first, but added that he was glad that he did because of his favorite teacher, former high school choir director Tonia Gamble.

“I thank you for you and your years of guidance and inspiration,” Bashore said, and also thanked Gamble for writing a number of letters of recommendation for him. “Never more than under your direction have I felt such a strong desire to share music with other people.”

One student, Taylor Grooms, got some smiles from those attending the dinner as she was nearly perpetually in tears, but still managed to come up with some hilarious statements about her favorite teacher, band director Bob Sloan.

“My first experience at Van Wert High School was getting on a bus to go to West Virginia with some crazy guy … I had no idea what I was getting into,” she noted to laughter from the audience. “Little did I know that music was going to be the least of my worries.”

Gamble to her favorite teacher, Bob Priest, to smile several times as she talked about his impact on her education and life.

Noting that Priest expected a lot from her, Gamble said she learned a lot from the social studies teacher over her four years in high school. “It wasn’t always what I wanted to hear, but what I needed to hear,” she said of the things Priest told her over the years, adding, “He has helped me grow and progress as a person.”

“Wow, what a moment!” said moderator Wally Grimm, former VWHS principal, who had himself been honored by a member of his golf team when he coached that sport for Van Wert.

Also Tuesday, six retiring Van Wert City Schools teachers were also honored with school bells for their combined experience of nearly 200 years. Those included Van Wert Middle School science teacher Linda Thomas, Franklin School elementary teachers Louise Haas and Mary Pelton, Washington School teachers Brenda DeLong and Carol Taylor and VWHS special education teacher Jerry Ramsay.