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Mr. Ewell does an amazing job of teaching a love of learning as well as inspiring his students to learn more about the world around them. He challenged his students to memorize the Gettysburg Address this year in honor of the 150 year anniversary. My son, Quin, excitedly spent weeks studying it and practicing it. The principles he learned from that will stay with him for the rest of his life!
He makes his lessons fun and pulls a lot of real world knowledge into his discussions. I have even heard him use different accents to emphasize a point and get the kids attention. Quin comes home and excitedly tells us facts or tidbits he has learned from his lessons at school that day and will even tell us something in the same accent Mr. Ewell has used. Mr. Ewell has the class members organized into a government with a president, vice president, and many other positions. This really drives home the government curriculum they are learning this year. Quin's job at the moment is to feed the two pet geckos' they have in the classroom.
Mr. Ewell teaches his class life skills that are invaluable. He starts off each day with a moment of silence for the kids to reflect on their day and the things they want to accomplish. He teaches the kids accountability for their actions and responsibility for their own actions. This is a priceless skill that my son has learned. He takes care of making sure all of his assignments are turned in and if he is missing something he will find out on his own how to make it up or stay after to do this work. This is a huge change from previous years where he had to be constantly reminded to do those things and keep his grade up.
Mr. Ewell goes above and beyond exposing his students to culture and arts by putting on a class version of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". He practices with the kids and has parents and families come for the play every December. It was one of the highlights of Quin's school year! We love Mr. Ewell and couldn't have asked for a better teacher for our son. He has made such a difference to Quin. We actually feel less stress in our home because Quin in more on top of his studies!
--Emily Hadlock
