Do you think it is ever possible to have fun in school?
As a high school student I know way better than anyone how six to seven hours of monotonous classwork for five days a week for ten months can get beyond boring. However, many have made a solid effort to make a dull school day just a little bit more bearable, both teachers and students alike. I will now tell you a story about how a teacher and a student made school fun.
Mr. Siegelaub the Teacher
Back in elementary school, I had a substitute teacher by the name of Mr. Siegelaub. He knew how bored elementary schoolers got in class, so he decided to take charge. He remembers ignoring lesson plans now and then and doing his own thing. Every day, he’d mix things up by keeping the class on their toes, whether that be by hiding in different spots of the classroom, dressing with his clothes on backwards, or even running around the building on all fours while pretending to be a deer!
He would occasionally challenge his students by making them solve math problems and spell words above their grade level which although frustrated them when they failed to understand them at first, eventually gave them a higher-level of comprehension than their peers who could only do basic math and simple spelling tests. His peculiar methods of teaching actually proved to be successful as when he put in so much effort into making class more exciting, his students would reciprocate by putting in all of their focus.
Stone Fox 
Another notable way Mr. Siegelaub made school entertaining for his elementary students was by reading the book, Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner. Unlike other children’s books, Stone Fox has a chapter structure which makes it perfect for keeping students engaged. He would often read half of it and then stop midway through to see how his students would react, and they begged and begged for him to continue reading.
Before I graduated, Mr. Siegelaub gave me a copy of that book. Since like most elementary schoolers, I hated reading, I never read the book; although, a few years later, I took it upon myself to read the book as a way to honor my favorite substitute teacher. But as years flew by, I misplaced the book and gradually forgot the story, save for its impactful ending.
However, a few months ago, when searching for a new book to read, I remembered Stone Fox. My mom and I searched through hell and back for it but unfortunately, we were never able to find the original copy. My mom then had the good idea of reaching out to him through e-mail, to which he then responded to after all these years and sent me an inscribed copy of the book, which then I read again. It just goes to show how legendary the book is to be able to be read by a young me and still resonate with me as a teen.
Stone Fox follows the story of a young boy named Little Willy and his pet dog and best friend, Searchlight. Together they must find a way to pay their farm’s unpaid taxes in order to rejuvenate the kid’s depressed grandpa. The perseverance of Little Willy and Searchlight is impressively strong, even if they don’t succeed in the way they initially wanted to. Their story reminds me of mine as instead of writing this article entirely on a book and a mystery man I haven’t seen in almost a decade, I now have a fully fleshed out story to tell, even if I never ended up locating that original copy.
Mr. Siegelaub the Person
After reconnecting with him through email, I went with my mom and met up with Mr. Siegelaub and found out that he is a very interesting guy! Here is something I learned about him and his story.
Mr. Siegelaub was a writer for twenty-five years with a catalog of over a thousand articles, all before digital news rose to prominence. He wrote for several newspapers, including Newsday, meaning, by coincidence, he was a journalist just like I am now! One of his articles even got the attention of the U.S. President, George W. Bush, who wanted to honor a Vietnam Veteran featured in one of Mr. Siegelaub’s stories.
After writing for almost three decades, Mr. Siegelaub decided to focus his efforts somewhere else: becoming a substitute teacher in various elementary schools. Mr. Siegelaub eventually got bored of working with adults and decided to start teaching children as, according to him, “They tell you what’s what, they don’t lie to you, they give you everything they’ve got; their emotions: good, bad, everything.”
If I had not put in the effort to reconnect with a great teacher, I would not have found out about any of this. Just like Mr. Siegelaub, I made school fun.
With enough effort, anyone can make school more enjoyable.
