Our first year back in the classroom after the COVID Pandemic was my sophomore year of high school. I wanted to challenge myself academically and the summer prior immediately signed myself up to take AP Chemistry. 

This class for me, while I was basically still a freshman, was extremely hard. The teacher, Mr. Ponce hit us everyday with new concepts, next-day quizzes and daily homework (including on weekends). This class was hard and Mr. Ponce knew the rigor was necessary in order to prepare us for the AP exam later that May. 

Ponce always pushed me and his other students to do their best to meet his expectations. He was very serious in terms of when work was due and learning the material. It was almost like he made it hard to keep up, but I liked the challenge. 

Through that, he actually helped me create good learning habits that I’ve been able to apply to every other class I’ve taken since.

As bad as the learning curve for AP Chemistry was, this was when I started to discover my fascination with science. I found myself extremely interested in Chemistry and every niche it touched. 

Chemistry was even more entertaining whenever Mr. Ponce ranted about his personal life. I always appreciated how humorous he could be during class, especially when he noticed we were stressed about his class specifically . . .

He encouraged me to take another class he taught: AP Environmental Science. There he truly influenced me. I was able to realize how cool of a person Mr. Ponce was, as a researcher, not just as a teacher. 

He truly has the greatest lore out of all teachers on campus. I assure you, his jobs before teaching at CHS take the cake. 

Through Mr. Ponce’s support in AP Environmental Science, I was able to realize that my interest for science may just be my future career. 

Though I can only hope I am as interesting as you in the future Mr. Ponce, I’ll certainly try my best once I get my degree in Environmental Science. Happy Teachers Appreciation Week!