Just a Teacher - by Michael Fillerup & Jim David (Paperback)
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<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br>Brand new to the classroom in 1969, rookie teacher Todd Hunter takes his bored and restive junior-high biology students outside for a hands-on science lesson. In the years that follow, despite hard knocks and heartbreaks, the "Pond Project" will spark a passion for learning among the thousands of children who take Hunter's class.<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><p>When rookie teacher Todd Hunter greets his first class of ninth graders, he sees in half their faces bedtime stories and good-night kisses, piano lessons and 4-H clubs. In the other half, he sees ducking and dodging, last picked and first kicked. At that moment, Todd decides to make the bruised and beaten half of his class as successful as the cheerful, confident half. Somehow, some way, he's going to help the pelicans soar with the eagles.</p><p>It's a rocky start, until one day he takes his bored and restive biology students outside for a hands-on science lesson. From that day on, nature is his classroom and life is his lesson plan, but there are hard knocks and heartbreaks along the way. As his outdoor classroom flourishes, his marriage unravels. A student mysteriously disappears, and Todd is the prime suspect. He contends with petty rivalries, corrupt administrators, condescending socialites, low pay, political backstabbing.</p><p>Walk in the shoes of this public-school teacher, not for a day or a week but over the course of a career. You'll discover that his story is not his alone-it's a window into the heart, mind, and soul of everyone who wears the mantle of our nation's most underappreciated but absolutely indispensable profession: teacher.</p><p>"Over the next thirty-five years, I will teach more than seven thousand students and remember the majority of them, but I will not forget a single name or face from that first class, the one that started the Pond Project. This is where I'll cut my teeth; this is where I'll learn the difference between teaching and blabbing. This is where I'll learn about inspiration, motivation, leadership, and vision. And this is where I'll learn that to teach is first and foremost to love."</p><p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br><p>This is a moving, honest account of the beautiful, as well as the heart-breaking, experiences of being a teacher. It explores the realities of a teacher's life in a diverse community, where the focus is always, lovingly, on the students."</p><p><strong>-Gretchen Knudson Gee, PhD</strong></p><p><br></p><p><em>Just a Teacher</em> is <strong>a thrilling read</strong> for anyone who has ever been inspired by a favorite teacher or for those who have chosen to take on the challenges of the most noble of professions. It is an absolute must-read for anyone in Flagstaff who has ever fished, communed with nature, or fed the ducks and geese at Frances Short Pond. Despite its length of nearly 300 pages, I couldn't put it down, wanting to know what happened to Jennifer, the abused student who mysteriously disappears from school without a trace. Authors Jim David and Michael Fillerup cleverly lure the reader in with the harrowing mystery that could explode and ruin Todd Hunter's career at any moment, yet the book does not reveal its secrets until the last pages. As a result, I devoured the book in one day. I had to keep reminding myself that it is fiction. But how much? I now want to research the first 9th graders who petitioned the Flagstaff City Council in front of a packed Council audience to support their conversion of a trash dump behind the school into one of Flagstaff's crown jewels. <strong>-Neil Weintraub, board member, Willow Bend Environmental Education Center</strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong>Goosebumps!</strong> As a reader, I wanted to know how the story ended, yet I didn't want it to end. I solved the problem by starting over as soon as I finished. All along, I felt the emotions Todd Hunter felt, as if I was living his life and indeed walking in his shoes as a teacher and a person. I'm not a teacher or student and I don't have school-age children, yet I identified with him and his wife, Amy. The writing is masterful and the story is one I think many will enjoy. <strong>-Catherine Bell</strong></p><p><br></p><p>In this <strong>exceptionally thoughtful, beautifully written</strong> book, Jim David and Michael Fillerup tell the harrowing tale of Todd Hunter, a new teacher who is desperately trying to navigate the world of education in a way that makes a profound impact on his students. Throughout the course of this story, Todd shares countless successes and failures, both professionally and personally, which prove to the reader that he is more than "just a teacher." This remarkable story will leave you feeling so many emotions: amazed, frustrated, appreciative, inspired and heartbroken...but mostly in awe of the work teachers do every single day to better the lives of their students. This is a story every teacher can relate to. Someone has finally put words to the thoughts, feelings and actions that encompass the job we love so much. <strong>-Alison Schulz</strong></p><p><em></em></p><p><strong>A young teacher navigates the minefield</strong> that modern education has become: inadequate funding, low pay, poorly chosen textbooks, politics, incompetent or jealous principals, under-motivated or entitled students, defensive parents, test-oriented valuations. Using his imagination, guile, native belligerence, and empathy, <strong>Mr. Hunter teaches the subjects, but also shows the students how to think</strong> and connects with and motivates them by giving them the satisfaction of accomplishment, teaching them life lessons they won't forget. -<em>Mary Swersey</em></p><br>
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