In order to show gratitude to our staff for teacher appreciation week that occurred last month, a poll was launched asking students to award a teacher for each category that were selected by members of the ICSA Insight staff. Over 120 students responded, and the results are in!
Funniest / Class Clown
Mr. Caley, a very chill guy, who casually enjoys making jokes and being funny in front of groups of people, took the lead for the funniest teacher. He’s the type of teacher who makes you feel welcomed in his class by smiling, making your classroom experience enjoyable.
Surprisingly, when he was in school, he was a weird, quirky kind of kid in terms of personality, with strange tastes and attracted to strange bits of humor. He’s always been funny, but not necessarily a class clown. He was always well-behaved and respectful.
He likes many comedians including Norm McDonald and Bill Burr, but his favorite one was Mitch Hedberg, who unfortunately died very young.
“It’s a fine line, right? I think some people are way too serious or they take themselves too seriously, and I don’t think that’s the way to get respect necessarily. You also have to be careful that you’re not just seen as only a goofball,” says Mr. Caley.
Most Athletic
Mr. Thomas has a very healthy and active lifestyle. “I jog for about 30 minutes 4-5 times per week, in addition to that I usually have calisthenic workouts almost every day.” He plays and watches a variety of sports ranging from contact sports to non-contact sports. His favorite sport is football, followed closely by cricket. He claims that he’s much better at cricket than he is at football, as he used to play semiprofessional cricket in Jamaica, participating in organized regional competitions. Unfortunately, he stopped playing, due to him traveling around the world for work.
Most Likely to be on Reality Television
Our beloved French teacher, Mme. Binate, has 5 different nationalities/identities, ranging from countries in Africa to Western countries to the U.S; she loves traveling, as a vacation far away is where she regains her energy. Every day, she dresses in fashionable outfits and no matter what, she always has a charming personality. Her life is magical, as she juggles the three most beautiful things in life: being a mother, a teacher, and a wife. She’s very devoted to each aspect of her life, and this perfect balance in her life definitely makes her reality TV material.
Most Contagious Smile
Ms. Seretti was very surprised when she received this award, as she claims she usually gets complimented more on her eyes rather than her smile. However she does smile a lot, and in fact when she doesn’t smile, people think something is wrong with her, asking her if she’s sick or tired. She loves smiling because she believes that a smile really goes a long way, and can really change someone’s day for the better.
Best Accent
Jamaican teacher, Mr Thomas, was shocked when he received this award. “If you’d asked if I thought I would win that category, I would have said no.” He claims his accent is a product of living in different countries. When he goes back to his home country, people even point out to him that he’s losing his Jamaican accent. Traveling across the world, there have been several occasions in which people have made fun of his accent or asked him a ton of questions regarding it. However, he never takes these things personally or gets offended by them. He’s fond of many accents, the one that he finds the most interesting though is the Kenyan accent.
“That’s interesting, I think that it’s not just about the accent but rather also the personality that comes with the accent,” says Mr. Thomas.
Best Drip
Ms. Winfrey is from the U.S, specifically from Georgia. This Math teacher always comes to school wearing the freshest, and most stylish outfits out of everyone. But as it turns out, she doesn’t even take long to choose her outfits and get dressed in the morning. “It doesn’t take me long at all, I would say maybe 5 to 10 minutes.” Her favorite clothing line is Zara, due to the quality of the clothing and the variety of clothing designs they have. She loves making outfits in colder weather as layering and overwearing make better fits; unfortunately, here in Cote d’Ivoire, it’s very warm throughout the year.
Separated by Birth
Mrs. Oqueli and Ms. Seretti just met each other at the start of this school year, but quickly began a partnership and friendship. They worked together on many events through Cavoequiva, which brought them even closer. With classrooms next door to each other, only separated by a blue door, they frequently come into each other’s classrooms to laugh and tell stories.
Best Storyteller
Mr. Thomas, with his 3rd award, claims that he has many stories to tell. He has led a very interesting life, traveling all around the world experiencing and observing a variety of fascinating thing. One of the stories he always tells his students is that, although he is a Science teacher, when he was in school, he used to prefer completely different subjects such as Art and Geography.
In the classroom, he doesn’t tell too many stories as he wouldn’t get through the class, but when he does, he links certain topics in Science to interesting things he has read or seen to help information stay with the students. To correctly deliver a story, he suggests using the tools you have, in the most effective way possible such as your voice, your tone, and hand gestures.
“So interestingly, I think that every story can be interesting, it’s a matter of how you use the tools to deliver the story.”
Coldest Classroom
Math teacher, Mr. Namory, is from the northern part of Cote d’Ivoire. Despite growing up in a country that is very warm throughout the year, he likes keeping his classroom cold, having both A.C.s on at all times. He believes that his students will work more efficiently when the classroom is cooler rather than too hot.
“I think when it’s cold it keeps people awake, and when it’s too hot, they get distracted.”
However, he’s very flexible about it, and if his students ask him to turn off the AC, he never has a problem with doing that.
Life of the Party
The Journalism/English teacher, Ms. Seretti is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the east coast of the US. She loves to hang out with friends and have fun.
On the other hand, as she gets older though, she also enjoys quiet time alone with a good book. She’s definitely more of an extrovert, and loves people in general; however, sometimes she needs to be alone.
“At times, I also need to recharge my batteries, so I would almost consider myself an ambivert.”
Surprisingly, she believes that she didn’t deserve to win this category and she “passes the torch” to our Sports Director, Mr. Peyron.