LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Robert Reichle was nominated by two students. The following profile contains text from each nomination.

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"I have always been fascinated with history from a very young age. I can trace my interest back to the age of eight, when I first watched the masterpiece A Bridge Too Far, about the events of Operation Market Garden. From then on, one of my most significant areas of knowledge and interest became history. Many students seem to discard or loathe history, which feels odd to a person like me, and when I ask them why they usually say that it's boring or pointless, but I can generally bring it around to the teacher. A good teacher makes or breaks a history or social studies class, which is why I was happy to be taught by Mr. Reichle for two years at Arrowhead," said one student.

"From the first day onward, he made it very clear that he wanted to make history interesting and disliked the systems that schools used to teach it, that being events and dates. He was more interested in the big picture, understanding and connecting events like a spider web of knowledge. It was a relief for many people who were not as familiar with history. And this system works well," said the student.

"He's also an entertaining speaker, able to use modern hindsight to connect current events to historical ones, and had endless stories to tell from his travels and experiences. Every lesson is refreshing and endlessly fascinating. Something about his teaching style sets him apart from any other teacher I've had, and he can take hundreds of pages of material and summarize it in a lesson or two. He's also able to tackle controversial subjects with precision and knowledge I'm still impressed by," said the student.

"In AP European History, he also gives students opportunities to discuss certain people and topics, which leads to interesting conversations with intelligent people about important events and a tighter circle among students with the same interests as you. It makes the student circle feel more interconnected than a standard class would," said the student. "We also have fun days to learn about topics in greater detail. My favorite was when we celebrated Winston Churchill's birthday, with party hats, snacks and all, and learned about major events in his life, both the good and bad, and read and listened to some of his speeches."

"Mr. Reichle has an energy like no other teacher I've seen. He is constantly making history enjoyable and new, pushing students to be better at learning and growing. He is one of my favorite teachers and is an excellent example of why history can be a fascinating subject," said the student.

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??"The first time I met Mr. Reichle was not through class but on a school trip to Germany. Traveling with a teacher and many students I didn't know was slightly intimidating since I'd only ever traveled with family. The only person I knew was my friend, who needed lots of convincing to come along," said another student.

"As soon as I decided to go to Germany, Mr. Reichle made an effort to get to know me. Whenever I passed by him in the hall, he would say hello or make small talk with me. He has a very humorous and outgoing personality, and I quickly grew to like him," said the student. "By the time our trip came around, Mr. Reichle was one of my favorite teachers, and I had never even had him in class."

"In Germany, Mr. Reichle always ensured we had a good time. He interacted with us in a way that made each of us feel like his favorite. One time at dinner, we were served two large pork chops, potatoes, and vegetables. It was a lot– even for us teenagers. Everyone was still trying to finish their first pork chop when Mr. Reichle stood up from his empty plate and walked through our tables," said the student.

"'I could eat your whole plate, your whole plate, your potatoes…' he went around pointing to our unfinished meals. I offered him my pork chop to be funny, and he ate it. When the server came around to give us dessert, Mr. Reichle joked that none of us deserved to have any since we didn't finish our main course," said the student."

"One day in the Alps, we met an influencer named Jack Wright. Mr. Reichle had never heard of him, but when we explained that he was a famous TikToker, Mr. Reichle got very excited and even got a picture with him. For the rest of the day, he didn't stop talking about how he was officially the coolest teacher and that he'd frame that picture in his classroom. Remember, he didn't even know Jack Wright existed before then," said the student.

"I liked Mr. Reichle so much that I added his AP Euro class to my schedule senior year. Even in school, his personality remained humorous and outgoing. He interacts with his students in a way that makes us all feel like his favorite and turns a class of students into a group of friends," said the student.

"Mr. Reichle is the type of teacher you remember for the rest of your life. He is friendly yet respectable and creates a happy environment for everyone. I've created many memories with him that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Not only did I have him as a teacher, but I was lucky enough to travel across the world with him and get to know his personality outside of school," said the student.