Head of the Class - Alan Southern

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Story Published: Oct 26, 2009 at 8:33 AM MDT

Story Updated: Oct 26, 2009 at 8:33 AM MDT

By Justine Beauvais

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IDAHO FALLS - "You gotta make it real you have to make it something they can relate to something that's part of their every day life. You gotta make it fun you gotta get their hands involved they gotta be doing things and touching things and when you do that it's a piece of cake," says Mountain View Middle School earth science teacher Alan Southern.

There's not a single slice of cake in this class, trust me I would be the first to sniff it out, but there are a lot of unknown specimen, piled on lab tables some shimmery, some colorful and all part of Mr. Alan Southern's course.

"Our unit we've been working on minerals and we're learning the properties that help students identify minerals such as the hardness, the streak, the luster, and fracture," says Southern.

It's a long list of things to cram into the brain, but Mr. Southern knows how to make it stick.

"It's all about motivation because once they get motivated they want to learn more they're gonna ask questions they're gonna go home and talk about it they're gonna remember it," he says.

And motivation seems to be working

"I'm not a big fan of science but I love this class," says student Lyndsey Hayward.

Even if that motivation is tough.

"He pushes you to get your work done and if you don't understand something if you don't ask for help he won't know so you gotta ask for help if you want to get something done and get it right," says student Spencer Harrah.

"It just can't be me doing all the work all the time they gotta be the ones that are doing a lot of the work," says Southern.

Work that has students anticipating for the start of class.

"This is my favorite class," says Hayward. "I'm looking forward to learning something new."

And the end results.

"If you don't have a teacher like that than you probably won't want to get anything done and get a good education and not do very well in life," says Harrah.

"I'm going to teach as long as I'm having a good time," says Southern. "I love this job so much I can't see myself doing anything else."

Congratulations to Mr. Southern who is this week's Head of the Class. He will be taking home our Golden Apple Award courtesy of Crown Trophy.

If you know an educator making a difference in the schools send Justine an e-mail at justineb@kidk.

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