Thursday, April 23, 2009
Mr. Wells was the best teacher I ever had! I'm 44 years old and still remember very specific lessons that he taught us in the fifth grade. One day he took us out to the playground for a science lesson. He set up a boys against the girls competition to see which group could make the merry-go-round move one complete revolution without anyone touching the ground. That moment in my life was the inspiration for me to become a mechanical engineer and I will never forget it. I remember him giving us a problem to solve once about having to measure out exactly one half of a glass of water without anything to measure with. He kept us in suspense for a whole day and when no one could figure it out, he showed us how we could tilt the glass on a diagonal and when the water level just reached the edge of the glass before it dripped out, we would have exactly half. I also remember gym recess and how Mr. Wells talked about excercise being fun and how it was part of a healthy lifestyle. I also remember him talking about the importance of voting in this country. When some of us didn't feel like voting in the mock presidential election we had in class, he went into a lengthy and very inspirational explanation of the priviledge and obligation we have to vote and challenged us to find out as much information about the candidates as we could and use our power to vote. I remember his energy in the classroom and his wonderful warm personality. He used to call the girls, sister when he addressed us especially when he was trying to explain something delicately without getting us upset. I found this website because I was thinking about him just today as I was preparing a career day speech for a group of fifth grade girl scouts. Mr. Wells will be a big part of my explaining to the girls how teachers can influence your life and your career choice. My condolances to the family. I'm really glad I had this opportunity to share some of my memories. I hope they provide some comfort to you all. I haven't seen or talked to him in 33 years but I am still very sad that the world is now without him. He will forever in my mind be my fifth grade teacher when I was ten - by far the greatest teacher I ever had. He was truly an exceptional man!
