Students spend over 35 hours a week at school with their teachers, yet they are no more than strangers to them. The students know absolutely nothing about their teachers besides the fact that they teach 10th grade Algebra. What kind of relationship is that?

Now, some teachers may be uncomfortable with getting too close to their students; however, part of the experience of high school is the relationships made, relationships with peers, relationships with the security guards (#CCHSprobs), and relationships with teachers.  More than just high school life is based off the relationships students make, the rest of their life as working adults is affected, too..

When a student walks into the hustle and bustle of Mr. Steve Anderson’s classroom, he or she would see the special bond he shares with his students. Throughout the morning, break, lunch, and after school, kids are coming into Mr. Anderson’s room in upstairs Drexel knowing they can count on this 26-year veteran educator.

Before school begins, Mr. Anderson promptly arrives on the CCHS campus around 7:40 am, prepared to start the day by grading quizzes or by setting up a lab for either his three Chemistry or three Physics’ classes. He parks his car in the faculty parking lot and makes his way through the front office saying hello to everyone he passes. On his way through the building, he checks his box, grabbing any important papers, and makes his way to top floor Drexel. Walking up the two flights of stairs, he greets two students who he says high to every morning and welcomes his other neighboring science teachers to the new day.

Once he unlocks the door to his laboratory, he goes through his routine morning process: he turns on the light, turns off his phone, turns on his rock’n roll, puts his frozen lunch in the refrigerator, and prepares himself for his class which will be joining him promptly in 25 minutes.

This school year, Mr. Anderson is teaching a total of six classes, meaning he no longer has the luxury of a prep period. Mr. Anderson explained how he has conquered this schedule once before and found it all manageable if he stays on top of his work.

With the lack of free time during the day, Mr. Anderson said, “I haven’t socialized much this year.”

If he did have time to relax at lunch, it would be with his fellow math and science teachers downstairs in Mr. Tim Derenthal’s room. Together, he, Mr. John Montali, Mr. Gary Minner, Mr. Tom Rickling, Mr. Manuel Terzoli, Mr. Gary Remiker, Mr. Dan Wilson, Mr. Derenthal, and history teacher Mr. Don D’Angelo all enjoy each others company during their free lunch period. Now that Mr. Anderson does not have an extra grading period, he mostly spends his lunch grading quizzes, preparing for class, writing new cat-torture problems for physics, and shoving his microwaved lunch down his throat. At break, Mr. Anderson barely finds enough time to go to the bathroom or talk with the glowing Mrs. Lisa Bruce about the beauty of raising children.

During class, students are given time to work on practice problems after Mr. Anderson has finished the lesson for that day. He lets the students spread out around the back lab tables as they all work together to finish the assignment.

Sophomore Cailan Healy, a dedicated student of Mr. Anderson, said,” Chemistry is not fun, but he makes it fun.”

Chemistry is by no means an easy subject to learn or teach, but with the help of iTunesU, the course has become a joy for students. The students know to expect seriousness with Mr. Anderson when he is giving notes; however, when they are working in the classroom or doing labs, he is a bundle of energy. The physics students know this from the annual water balloon lab that Mr. Anderson does where they measure the projectile motion of the balloon; however, once the experiment is over they have to get rid of the balloons some way. Chemistry students even know to expect some silliness from the crazy Mr. Anderson. He will sometimes put the answers to practice problems on the back of the paper but not tell students they are there. Then, once students flip the page over to start the second half of the assignment they think they have to do, they realize all the answers were right at the tip of their nose.

By lunchtime Mr. Anderson is ready for a break. So he grabs his interesting combination of cottage cheese, Tapatio, and mustard to eat along with a pile of student work to grade over his free 30 minutes. He will also heat up his microwaveable lunch if he remembers.

With one more class to go, Mr. Anderson’s busy day comes to a close. He tries to stay after school until around 2:30-3:00 pm, but after that, he heads home to do more work.

“I end up doing a lot of work at home,” he said. “I have to spend quite a lot of time prepping for physics.”

Mr. Anderson genuinely loves being a teacher. He has dedicated over 26 years to educating adolescents. The moment one walks into Mr. Anderson’s room he or she can sense the love and respect Mr. Anderson has for his students. His day may only sometimes consist of grading quizzes and presenting notes, but Mr. Anderson is one of the most interesting and dedicated teacher on the CCHS campus because there is definitely not another teacher at CCHS who has a collection of dead cats in a jar on his desk.