Typically the average high school student doesn’t enjoy english all too much. However when you have such a knowledgeable teacher like Mr. Tramel, English 4 & Ap Literature, the class seems to fly by. Between the combination of odd sayings and marvelous jokes you truly feel as though you are a part of the class and really have been taken under his wing.
“30 years ago I was at a crossroads. I was working on my third career (I was managing a fleet of golf cars), but I was about to be forced out. I had to find something else to do. I have jokingly said that I had three choices left: bank robbery, brain surgery, or teaching. I did not own a gun nor could I handle all of the math and science, so it had to be teaching.” said Mr. Tramel, “Seriously, teaching had always been in the back of my mind because so many people had told me that I would be good at it including my 8th grade History teacher who told my mother when I was a freshman in high school that I would make a great teacher someday.”
With many years of teaching under his belt, Mr. Tramel truly knows how to captivate a classroom even when we have an In Class Essay or a multiple choice test. The way he presents the material and engages the class makes for an interesting forty-five minutes in his classroom.
“Eighteen years ago I got the opportunity to teach AP English Literature. A course that was made for me because of its emphasis on the two things I do very well: teaching writing and poetry analysis.” said Mr. Tramel
Mr. Tramel is an avid poetry reader and analyzer, which give him qualities he applies in his classes. Never is there a dull moment when he is teaching and I like to believe that is because he loves it so much.
“I was a frustrated writer that had come to the realization that I would never have the discipline to be a writer, but I could certainly teach others how to do it.” said Mr. Tramel, “It still excites me today because I love to watch my students become more confident in their writing and start to understand the wonders of the poetic voice.”
Mr. Tramel also believes that communication is a massive part of our everyday lives, even after high school. He is an excellent teacher of communication and as he teaches his students, he advises them to learn to effectively communicate in and out of the classroom.
“I believe my advice to students today would be to learn how to communicate beyond what is required of them on social media. Whatever endeavor they choose after high school, they will need to be able to communicate effectively, no class teaches that skill better than an ELA class.” said Mr. Tramel.
Mr. Tramel always pushes his students to do their best and to make their senior year a year to remember, and with a class such as his it’s hard not to remember everything about his class.