Malibu High School sets the bar for scenery, but I was not always as enamored of the classroom instruction. Much of the time I believed there were only two redeeming qualities in high school: the opportunity to play championship water polo for Mike Mulligan and the option to surf Zuma before school. Nonetheless, several educators taught me how to raise my personal bar in terms of intellectual excellence. Very few educators have the ability to connect with a disinterested teenager and make a lasting impact on that individual’s ability to become a contributing member of society. Malibu High is home to several of those exceptional individuals.
Tony Murphy taught me to set the bar high, why to set the bar so high, and the physics behind how to jump. Bob Perry taught me to set the bar higher and leap over it, because defining personal excellence requires the individual to experience the exertion of Herculean effort. Jennifer Gonzalez taught me that no matter what the situation—however motivated or unmotivated I might be—I have to jump. By making the most of class sessions, she compelled me to complete my coursework and arrive each day prepared to contribute to the learning environment. Every day, Jennifer Gonzalez contributed every ounce of her being to shape me into a critical thinker, an effective communicator and a more compassionate individual. While I may not have absorbed all of her boundless compassion for humanity, Jennifer Gonzalez will always be my model educator.
No education or educator is perfect. Imperfection is the continually evolving factor that drives individual growth and intellectual capacity. Those who dedicate their lives to provide an education to the young people of our country perform a job continually attacked and marginalized by individuals, politicians and the media for personal gain. It is our duty to celebrate the educators who go above and beyond to provide our public education institutions, the cornerstone of our thriving democratic society, with the capable thinkers of today, and the motivated achievers of the future.
I do not know the student who has very publicly claimed injury at the hand of Ms. Gonzalez nor do I know what transpired that day. What I do know is that no teacher cares more for her students or has dedicated herself to the profession than Ms. Gonzalez. My life is richer for having been her student.
Asher Ross