Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
TEACHER RECEIVES MILITARY SALUTE
Marsh Creek Sixth Grade Center teacher Jon Wilson among 10 ‘ Phillies Teacher All- Stars’ being honored
UWCHLAN » It’s not every day the Phillie Phanatic shows up to school to tell a teacher they are an all- star.
During teacher appreciation week, Marsh Creek Sixth Grade Center teacher Jon Wilson received a military salute fromhis students and the Phanatic, a tribute reflecting the respect he has shown and taught his students. It was a surprise assembly held Tuesday at the school, in the Downingtown Area School District.
Wilson was selected for the honor as a former Marine and a teacher who has helped his students, both in and out of the classroom, including helping those being bullied.
“You remind me that good people make other people better,” said former Phillie Gary Matthews.
Lillian Yost, now a Lionville Middle School student who
had Wilson last year, nominated Wilson in the contest after writing about her allstar teacher for an assignment in her advanced writing class.
“He made me enjoy math, life, and friends again,” Yost read from her essay during the assembly. “He is a goofyman who has a big heart and he will always protect me and everyone he knows.”
Yost described Wilson as a teacher who made his students laugh and for her personally, he helped her with issues beyond school work.
“Last year I did go through bullying from several people and without Mr. Wilson I would probably never get out of the sadness that came with it,” Yost said. “He always made me smile and laugh and it made me forget about anything happening outside of the classroom.”
He also helped his math students to understand, no matter how long it took. He explained real- life examples of when they would use math.
“He would always make sure we all understood what he was talking about,” she said. “He would answer even the dumbest of questions and with each question he answered it like it was the most important thing in the world.”
She described him as a caring person and a protector.
“One thing he did was when he walked by he would touch the top of our heads like a pat. I did not know why exactly, I just knew it made me feel safe,” Yost said. “One day he told us why. He did it so we knew how much he cared for us.”
To make the students laugh, she said Wilson stood up on his desk and started to do the hula.
“Swaying his hips and his hands, it looked like waves,” she said. “He made the whole class burst out in laughter that it sounded like thunder.”
Wilson showed the Phanatic how to do that hula dance and they danced together.
Wilson didn’t know the assembly was for him until he was called to help and then he saw his family there too. The 1,200 students cheered like fans, waving rally towels.
“I’m speechless, I don’t like the spotlight,” Wilson said following the rally. “But I love the kids. They are my strength.”
Wilson wanted to be a teacher, but he had selfdoubts, ones that caused him to help his students work through any of their negative thoughts about themselves.
“I fought my whole life to become a teacher. I didn’t think I was smart enough, I didn’t think I was good enough and through the years as I got older, I realized the only person who could make that move was myself,” Wilson said. “And once I did I was lucky enough to get my own classroom and it was going to be my job to instill that belief in every single one of my students because I refuse to watch kids go through life feeling the way I felt for most of mine. I make it my duty to get these kids to believe in themselves. I want to help build that self- confidence to be able to look themselves in the mirror and dismiss any negative comments they heard throughout the day from anyone else. Every one of my students, I tell them they are amazing and are beautiful. Lillian being one of them.”
Before the 7: 05 p. m. Phillies-Mets game on Friday, Wilson will be honored onfield at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia among the 10 Phillies Teacher All-Stars, who were selected from hundreds of nominations, as part of the 18th annual Teacher Appreciation Night presented by ENGIE.