Mr. Gristeniado has been teaching at Osage Senior High School for over 10 years; he started teaching just before I entered the world of education and he's been molding and encouraging countless students ever since.  My big sister Shyla, had him, as did my big brother, Opie.  Now I have him.  He may be ancient (Mr. Gristeniado is well into his seventies), but he has no plans of retiring as he loves what he does.  Even if he has to come to class in a hospital bed or on oxygen, chances are he will be there.  He's that dedicated.

I've never seen a teacher quite like him.  Mr. Gristeniado is incredible.

Mr. Gristeniado has always encouraged me (and all the other students under his tutilage) to write; if we had any problems with spelling or reading, he always worked with us until we "got it".  The way he teaches makes it easy to learn and makes our time in his classroom fun, not to mention, entertaining.  Mr. Gristeniado has a wicked sense of humor and it is clear just how well he understands kids, even though we are so much younger than he is.

At the same token, Mr. Gristeniado makes us appreciate the older generation and makes us realize that not older people are "fogies" or "clueless" about what we kids happen to like.  Mr. Gristeniado loves rock music and will sometimes let us listen to our tunes, like on the last week of school; he thinks since we worked hard in his class all year, then we deserve a little R & R (rest and relaxation).  He even dances these wild dances, which makes all of us crack up with laughter, even thoguh he is on a cane.

If that isn't enough, Mr. Gristeniado keeps in close contact with our parents and lets them know how we are doing on a regular basis.  He is friends with all of us (and our parents) and everybody at our school think that he is the greatest.  

I wish all schools (or kids in general) could have a Mr. Gristeniado in their lives.  They (and school itself) would be a lot better off!