There are many wonderful people that have made a remarkably positive impact on society, and some of those people are our resilient teachers. Teachers put their all into their work, and guide the younger generation into their bright futures. This is something that should be highly commended and celebrated throughout their entire career, and even after their career, which is when they retire.
One teacher in particular who has displayed great leadership and amazing work in educating and connecting with his students is Mr. Belanger. He has worked at North High School for his entire teaching career, and he has taught here for 21 years. His journey in life has been remarkably interesting, as he surprisingly became a teacher 32 years after he graduated from college to become a teacher. During this time, he worked many different jobs, and then finally settled on becoming a teacher at North High School. Even with his wide variety of experiences, he states that being a teacher is his favorite job that he’s worked at, even though it is also the most difficult one he’s had.
“It’s never too late to try something new.” – Mr. Belanger
Being a teacher is a challenging and taxing job, and it requires a great deal of effort and devotion to your job to stay on top of your responsibilities while simultaneously ensuring your students’ success. Mr. Belanger expresses that “If you take your role as a teacher seriously, it’s very difficult.” He talks about how emotionally draining being a teacher can be, and how mental exhaustion can affect how you feel physically, as a result. Mr. Belanger’s unique take on the demands of being a teacher truly opens one’s eyes to how challenging the job really is. Even though the responsibilities of teaching itself make the job difficult enough, Mr. Belanger believes that his biggest challenge in teaching is the lack of student engagement. He wishes students would appreciate what teachers do for them more, which is very understandable and a valid issue to be concerned about.
“As a teacher, you’re giving five performances a day, and it’s very exhausting.” – Mr. Belanger
As for what Mr. Belanger has taken away from being a teacher for the past 21 years, it has made him realize within himself that teaching is what he should have done as soon as he graduated from college. Something he will miss the most when he retires are the students he teaches. He values the connections and relationships he has made with them over the years, and displayed a true excitement and joy when he recalled different students who have graduated and come back to visit him over the years.
“What has teaching taught you?”
Mr. Belanger: “That I’m awesome.”
Both: “[laughter]”
Mr. Belanger’s meaningful advice to everybody is:
“Take your time to decide what you wanna do. There’s no hurry.”
As for how Mr. Belanger wishes to enjoy his life to the fullest when he retires, he wishes to travel to places like Iceland and Scandinavia. He also talked about possibly teaching a college class for a semester in the future, just to keep his mind sharp. Mr Belanger’s inspirational passion for life and education makes him an amazing teacher, and a great person to look up to!
