Teacher of the Week: Mr. Bruhn from Rockford Christian High School

Congratulations to 97ZOK's brand new Teacher of the Week.

Mr. Bruhn from Rockford Christian High School took home the honors with goodies from Broadway Florist, Nothing Bundt Cakes and Oriental Trading Company.

The winning nomination came in from Mattie Hammer. She said:

Mr. Bruhn is everything that a teacher strives to be. Not only is he utterly knowledgeable, consistently organized, always reliable, and unbelievably hard-working, but his teaching goes beyond basic academics. He is extremely dedicated to his passion of spreading joy to the world through teaching music. His love for music shines every single day and in every class, and he has cultivated that same love within all his students.

 The poster outside Mr. Bruhn's classroom reads, ""Body, mind, spirit, voice, it takes the whole person to sing and rejoice."" That is what he lives out every day and that is what he encourages us to work for all the time. He is very optimistic and always calm, and even when some students can be frustrating, he never takes it out on the class or raises his voice. Because of the positive, welcoming atmosphere he has created within his classroom, nothing makes me happier than to start off each school day in the choir room.

Mr. Bruhn has taught us so much about the beauty of musical expression and about the teamwork necessary to make our choir great. His direction and constant effort in the four years that he has been at Rockford Christian are what have revolutionized our music program and made it something we can be really proud of. And even though he deserves so much praise for all his achievements as our teacher, he is one of the most humble people I have ever met, and he is constantly striving to be better at what he does so that he can serve us better. On top of being an excellent conductor and teacher, he cares so deeply about me, my classmates, and all of his students, and he is always there for us. He is constantly going out of his way and doing extra work to help us to succeed in choir and in other areas, as well. The door to Mr. Bruhn's office is always open for us if we need advice or someone to talk to, and he isn't afraid to be vulnerable with us in order to let us know that he has faced the same struggles that many of us are facing. When our school was faced with the tragic loss of the two young boys who were killed this spring, Chris and Jack, we were all hurting beyond belief. Because they were so involved with music, our community was especially broken by what happened. Even though Mr. Bruhn was grieving the loss of two of his students just as we were grieving the loss of our classmates, he went above and beyond to be there for all of us and support us in our pain.

Mr. Bruhn is so important to me and so many others from my school, not only because he is fantastic at what he does as a teacher and director, but also because he is a kind, patient role model and mentor who is always rooting for each and every one of us, and that is what makes him outstanding. I would nominate him for every award in the world if I could.