Mr. Garrison has been a resident of Rocky since the beginning of this year. Banter from the class reveals their love for him. Students said through his class he shows that he’s funny, laid back, and overall, a good teacher. Farther along in this article, Mr. Garrison gets to be recognized for his amazing work as a teacher and some of his past as a student.

Students have said many great things about him but what does the school truly know about him? Well, to start back to a simple root, teaching. You may be thinking, a teacher who has a root of teaching? What kind of malarky is this? He grew up knowing about the life of teachers through his grandmother. Through high school, he found a teacher that he became close with and still contacts to this day! His college professors even pushed him toward this career. Talk about being destined for something. There’s also the very shocking side to this, he never wanted to be a teacher. He truly disliked school and to prove that, ended high school with a 1.77 cumulative GPA. Thankfully, he took his professors advice.

Everyone knows that teachers aren’t very fun unless you get the right one for you. So, what could Mr. Garrison say about this, knowing he’s pretty laid back? “I think when students talk about a “strict” teacher they are referring to what they consider to be unfair or unnecessary. Every teacher must run their classroom in the way that they believe allows them to best teach students and maintain a safe environment.” His opinion helps a lot of teachers get hated on less. The way he works is a bit different for that quote to work. He said that there’s no reason to make your work less entertaining, so he lets his students be themselves. His job requires a lot of work with hundreds of different types of people. He said that many of his students have helped him grow as a person. Their influence changed how he interacts and thinks. He also thinks that might be why, “I act like an unruly teenager….”

Mr. Garrison has helped the students of Rocky explore what life might give you in the end. He’s a key part of our history. He continues to learn and grow from all of us and lets students get to feel the realistic side of a teacher. Life will never go exactly as you may expect it to, he’s a perfect example of this. To perfect this story, he left a quote.

“If you ask for strength, life will give you difficulties to make you stronger. If you ask for wisdom, life will give you problems to solve. If you ask for courage life will give you dangers to overcome. If you ask for love, life will give you troubled people to help. Be grateful for your difficulties and challenges, for they hold blessings. In fact, people need difficulties; they are necessary for personal growth, individuation, and self-actualization.”