LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Ryan Andrews was nominated by an anonymous student.

"When I tell you Mr. Andrews was laid back, I don't mean taking a nap instead of teaching. I mean taking 15 minutes to talk about drama with the students at the start of class. 'Give me … the tea,' he would say," said the student. "He used it to loosen us up and put us in a good mood. That time isn't set in stone either. The class could've kept talking if we had things to talk about. During class, he would tell us stories about past students and go off on tangents that could last 10 minutes. You'd think with all this time spent not learning, our class would be behind on curriculum, but his students always learned the curriculum no matter what."

"Mr. Andrews is by far the teacher I've had the most fun with," said the student, "I'm not even an English guy; I just loved his class. He treats every class like a stand-up routine. This was all part of his plan to loosen us up so we could learn. Everyone chuckled at his jokes, and his class was the best place at Arrowhead to make friends. I still talk with the people I had his class with."

"Mr. Andrews was laid back enough to let us chat during class, so long as we did work," said the student. "He also was laid back enough to give unorthodox assignments, due date extensions, and help with quizzes. I remember him lecturing once while putting a ball into a cup on the other side of the room (because, of course, Mr. Andrews had a putter in class). The class asked if we could take the upcoming quiz with a partner, and he said, 'If you can make the ball in the cup.' He gave five people two tries, and the last person sank their put. True to his word, he let us take the quiz with partners. This is just one example of how his unorthodox teaching strategies resulted in a positive learning experience."

"I've had many English classes where we just sit there daily, take notes, and then take a quiz. I've had classes where I only talked to a few students the whole semester. Mr. Andrews was explicitly against that," said the student. "He is all about making his class have fun. He is a man with the confidence to be chill."

"Mr. Andrews is a fantastic educator. He puts making someone learn information on the back burner and puts all his effort into ensuring all his students feel comfortable and excited. Then, Mr. Andrews uses this state of being to teach them things when they don't even know it," said the student. "He made his class exceptionally easy, not by making it less challenging, but by teaching in a way that requires no effort from the students. It's called having a good time."