Teacher Spotlight: Mr. Ryan
Have you ever had a teacher who inspires you? Have you ever wondered who inspired your teacher to become a teacher?
Today Spartan Expressions will draw attention to English teacher, Mr. Mike Ryan who currently teaches English11. Students who walk the halls of New Hartford see that he is a very joyful, fun teacher.
Alexandria O’Brien, a senior, had Mr. Ryan as a teacher her junior year. Alexandria describes Mr. Ryan as a very jolly teacher. She talks about how he is very understanding and engages the class with many jokes. She said he is also extremely sympathetic towards his students.
Alexandria shared one of her favorite memories from his class: “The pizza party he threw for his Block 2 class. It was so heartwarming to see how excited he was, and to see how passionate he is for his students.”
As for his teaching methods, she emphasized that Mr. Ryan is a fair grader, and made each and every student feel included during every activity. As a teacher he is very serious about his job and his work, but he does know how to have fun and make the class itself enjoyable. Mr Ryan is known to always check up on students, and will throw harmless jokes here and there with each student.
“Each day was a new joke, even if it wasn’t funny,” Alexandria stated. “He would keep explaining the joke for everyone to understand and only two people ended up laughing.”
Alexandria’s experience shows that Mr. Ryan can have a good time with keeping the students engaged in the lesson being taught. The most important thing a teacher can do for their students is make them comfortable, improving their education while also encouraging them to become a better student than they were already.
Mr. Ryan grew up with two siblings, a sister and a brother. His sister Mrs. Eileen Roth also teaches at New Hartford High School and his brother Mr. Sean Ryan teaches at Whitesboro High School. Mrs. Roth described her childhood growing up with Mr. Ryan being her older brother and as a colleague. Mrs. Roth talks about how growing up with an older brother came with a lot of pros. She explains that Mr. Ryan was very popular and everyone loved him. Mr. Ryan was very tough but also had a lot of humor. With having an older brother, anyone could imagine that he was very protective as well.
“I was the nerd between me and Mr. Ryan,” Mrs. Roth explains.
She said that growing up with him, he could only be the one to make fun of her, but no one else could pick on her or he would get protective.
Mrs. Roth, Mr. Ryan and Mr. Ryan’s wife, Mrs. Ryan, all work in the same district and Mrs. Roth explained this brings many benefits. She loves that all their kids go to the same school because it is helpful for all of them to compromise. She sees her brother’s kids as her own, and she explains that he is also very great to her kids.
According to Mrs. Roth, Mr. Ryan is one of the teachers you know is happy to be here– whether it’s the way he is always saying hi to everyone in the halls, or the decoration in his classroom, or simply just him always being in a great mood. He never fails to show that he is proud to be a teacher and especially one at New Hartford High School.
What inspired Mr. Ryan to become a teacher? Mr. Ryan grew up as a Whitesboro student and mentioned a couple different peoples’ names when it came to who inspired him. In his words, “I had some amazing life changing teachers.”
He mentions Mr. Powers, Mrs. Alexander, Mrs. Sacco, Mrs. Widrick, and lastly Mrs. Hamilton, who recently retired from New Hartford. There is a special shoutout to Mrs. Hamilton because it was her first year of teaching ever when he took her class at Whitesboro.
“Mr. Powers was relatable, Mrs. Hamilton was so captivating, She cares so much about history, you couldn’t help but do the same. And Mrs. Widrick was something. She showed me the power of forgiveness and second chances- something every teacher needs to remember,” he explained.
These teachers taught him the lessons that inspired his teaching: showing forgiveness even when students make many mistakes, making the subject of the lesson interesting or letting the kids know that teachers do also relate to their students. Teachers were once students, so they do know how it goes sometimes. Having teachers that relate to you can make you have more of a connection with those teachers. Connection is key. Mr. Ryan knows having a connection with his students will impact them for the better. They will always remember him as the teacher that encouraged them.
According to Mr. Ryan, his life growing up was “pure 80’s and 90’s happiness.” Mr. Ryan had a happy childhood; he had a ton of friends that good times were shared with. He also mentions that he was lucky to have a brother and a sister. His parents gave all three children exhilarating lives. While growing up he learned there was discipline, love, expectations, and kindness. His parents didn’t care so much about being the kid’s best friend growing up, and because of that Mr. Ryan says they are the best of friends now.
photo submitted by Mr. Ryan
Mr. Ryan said his biggest accomplishment was “convincing Mrs. Ryan to marry me and have a family with me.” Mr. Ryan now has 4 kids– 3 daughters and one son. Not only is he so passionate about his job as a teacher at New Hartford, but also he is very passionate about the family he and his wife created and wouldn’t trade it for anything.
When looking into a teacher’s lifestyle, it is very important to notice the emotional connection and passion they have towards their family and the job they have. It does sometimes determine the type of teacher they are. Sometimes teachers who have a lot of kids, understand their students’ necessities more. That doesn’t always apply to every teacher though. I do know some teachers who have no kids who still understand their students. In Mr. Ryan’s case, he has always been understanding and will compromise with his students.
Not only can teachers impact students’ lives, but also students can also impact their teacher’s life. Mr. Ryan talks about how sometimes he can be more outgoing with some classes, and other classes he is more shy with his personality. Overall Mr. Ryan’s personality shines through him, but he said “class chemistry is a major element in anyone’s teaching style.”
Even as a student, I can understand where he is coming from. Sometimes when classes are more quiet, there isn’t a bond that is created between everyone. On the other hand, there are some classes that are more talkative and all connect more. No matter what, with Mr. Ryan there is never a dull moment. Most of his students compliment his teaching style–they say he is excellent with adding humor and personality to his lessons and he is overall an amazing teacher.
Earlier I had mentioned that Mr. Ryan had transferred in his teaching career to New Hartford. Mr. Ryan started off by teaching at Waterville High School, about 20 minutes away from New Hartford. The graduating class at Waterville is very small compared to New Hartford. Mr. Ryan was used to teaching a student more than once in two different grade levels, but when coming to New New Hartford, he only has a student for four months and doesn’t see them again usually. It was a big difference in many ways for Mr. Ryan. Some of the differences Mr. Ryan noticed, consisted of never seeing a vending machine that took debit cards, having a pool in the middle school, and everyone being able to leave campus for lunch.
“ It doesn’t matter if they all go hunting on opening day or buy orange Bass Pro hats and sit in the front row of every football game, kids are kids,” Mr. Ryan said,.
Mr. Ryan is a very outgoing, courageous, understanding, sympathetic teacher. He shows a lot of personality while teaching and is always there to help each and every student. He has come a long way from going district to district, but never fails to share his experiences. He is the perfect teacher to look up when needing some inspiration and he will always lead you in the right direction.
If you want to celebrate your favorite teacher, consider writing a profile for Spartan Expressions.
