Written by Journalism student Lance W.
At day’s end, not a single student leaves Mr. Arend’s classroom wondering if he cares about them. Not a second goes to waste in their school day. Not even the much-anticipated games they play in the gym. Every moment is used to teach a lesson, usually ones that every adult wishes they were taught in fifth grade.
Mr. Frank Arend has been teaching for over 28 years, the past three being here at New Life Academy. At the core of his educational focus is teaching students to build their character on a basis of faith in the Lord, and the values taught in the Bible.
He commented on the goals of teaching at New Life, saying, “What I hope is most important is the values we teach of the Bible like integrity, self-control, trust, having big faith, showing joy even in times when it’s tough, and seeking wisdom.” He continues, “Those things are the things that I think are most important, more important than learning how to divide or multiply.”
Mr. Arend takes providing educational value seriously. He wants his students to become the very best they can be. To accomplish this, he dedicates a large amount of his time and energy towards making every lesson as valuable as possible, every year.
He says, “I like to have a good time, but I set a high bar, and I don’t lower it. I have really high expectations. I’m hard on my class sometimes, but they also know that we gotta move forward and get better. I think that’s the satisfaction of teaching.”
Mr. Arend wants to impact the lives of his students now to a degree that will influence the way they make decisions for the rest of their life.
Room 228 is a place where a student can learn division and multiplication, Latin roots, and how to show integrity. It’s a place where they can ask questions and make mistakes, but most importantly it is a place where they can be positively influenced for the rest of their life.
He says, “I’m the type of teacher that if you’re my student this year, you’re my student forever.”