SAN ANTONIO – Students around the country are dealing with obstacle after obstacle and it has taken special teachers to go above and beyond to both motivate and educate them.
“I studied journalism in university, so I have a background and a few years of work working for newspapers. I worked as a yearbook photographer and on the staffs when I was in high school, and then I was an ESL teacher in South Korea for six and a half years,” John Hendrick, of Matthey Middle School said.
John Hendrick came to the Southside Independent School District from South Korea and after teaching English as a second language, along with journalism and yearbook.
“I grew up in Hawaii and lived in Korea for such a long time, so I’m very used to like Asian ideals and communities. So it’s been very different, but good,” Hendrick said.
And now here in San Antonio, he teaches several subjects.
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Whether its ESL, journalism, the yearbook or the school magazine, Hendrick incorporates teamwork and passion.
“I had a lot of crazy teachers when I was growing up, and they all had a lot of energy and it made me remember what they taught me. So I kind of carry that over to my own classroom,” Hendrick said.
“I think one of the things that makes Mr. Hendrick really inspirational is just the energy that he brings. He always has a very effective energy. He is extremely positive and works really well with all our students,” Matthey Middle School Principal Miguel Martell said.
He works so well with the students, that he even started a periodical.
“It’s a lot of work and it’s a lot of planning, and that’s something that I really think students do need to know, like how to plan something out in the future,” Hendrick said.
But when his students leave for the day, the year, or for high school, he has a specific goal in mind.
“I hope they figure out something that they’re interested in, that they like because that’s I think the most important thing in school, it is trying to figure out where do you want to go?” Hendrick said.