Aaron Hoiland

Cleveland

Having grown up in the small town of Cleveland, I have known the majority of my high school instructors not only as teachers, but also as friends. The closeness of our community allows teachers and students to have more of a personal, yet still professional, connection. Taking this into consideration, I believe each one of my teachers has taught me valuable life lessons. Last year, I had the privilege of taking a college level literature class as a junior in high school. The professor, Aaron Hoiland, was a new teacher to our school. Although I only had Mr. Hoiland for one year, he has taught me more about myself than any other teacher I know. Mr. Hoiland has challenged me to excel as a student and as a person. He has taught me to strive for perfection and not to accept anything less. My study habits have improved over the last year, and my maturity and organizational skills have grown. Mr. Hoiland showed me that if I put my mind to it, I can achieve any goals I set for myself.

— Megan Zimmerman

Robert Shoemaker

St. Peter

Robert Shoemaker has been my 10th grade biology teacher, as well as my AP biology teacher. He has gotten to know me fairly well over my high school career. Because of this, he knows what doing my best can be, and he drives me to never do less. He urges me to go that one step further, and he is confident that I can succeed. Mr. Shoe has also taken an active interest in more than just teaching. He’s written recommendations for college, and he’ll always ask how my tennis or track season is going. Mr. Shoe is definitely a teacher who has challenged me to excel because he truly cares about me and my future.

— Annika Lammert

Tania Lyon

Mankato West

Unquestionably, the most influential and important teacher I have ever had is Ms. Lyon, from whom I took AP language and composition last year as a junior. “APLC,” as we call it, is a class devoted to analysis, critique and discussion of language, literature, and rhetoric, but also with a broad focus on universal themes, such as war, peace, science and discovery, power and love. Ms. Lyon makes this class what it is for several reasons, among them being her own intellect, her unwavering commitment to teaching and the personal interest she takes in every single one of her students.

Almost every day in the APLC classroom presented a unique learning opportunity. Rather than solely teach us terms and vocabulary, Ms. Lyon presented information and ideas to us in such a way that we were forced to experience, develop and struggle with ideas and theories and texts with only the most necessary guidance from her.

In APLC, we discussed themes like race, class, oppression and personal identity. The class centered around group discussion of topics like these (using texts as a common base), as well as personal reading journals meant for introspection and personal discovery.