From raising their hands after every question to just being complete suck-ups, “teacher’s pets” come in all forms. The Class of 2017’s winners of the infamous “Teacher’s Pet” senior poll are none other than Noah Galper and Andrea O’Riordan. The Campanile investigates what their former teachers have to say about their students’ given title and the behavior which led to the label.
Mr. Bolaños: Noah sometimes just didn’t pay attention in class — like he would ask something and everyone in the room would be like, ‘Noah that was just answered!’ He never brought me an apple, never got me coffee, but he would compliment me; I never bought it though. Sometimes, during the period, he starts to rustle with Jared Stanley. Like, what are you guys doing? He’s willing to take a position that may not be popular — even though he almost got jumped a couple of times.
Noah: Mr. Bolaños is my man. I bet he was pretty shocked to hear that I won this, since I really liked to stir the pot in his class. There were a lot of kids in my Sociology class that were very single-minded about their beliefs. Full disclosure, Jared Stanley was the one harassing me.
Ms. Chute: For the past 18 months, Andrea has sent me little emails and left me little notes about mathematically related things, but I don’t think it’s to get on my good side. What I really like about Andrea, and to some extent Noah too, is that learning things is fun for them. She feels like an old soul, in a great way. Andrea is a true intellectual. She probably will cry [when she reads this honestly.]
Andrea: Wow. I don’t know what to say. I am so profoundly moved, and I did cry, just so you know. Ms. Chute is an amazing, inspiring woman.
Ms. Chute: When I think of Noah, I feel like the classroom was fundamentally not the same if he was absent. [If I were Noah’s boss], I would hire him knowing that I had someone who was gonna throw it back at me if things didn’t work. He is not a ‘yes’ man.
Noah: I’ve always loved Ms. Chute, but I never really felt like I did anything to suck up to her. Frankly, I’ve never thought of myself as a teacher’s pet. I speak my mind in class, and I think some perceive it as sucking up to the teacher.
Ms. Klein: I’m not at all surprised that Andrea won Teacher’s Pet. She just goes above and beyond in everything that she does. My joke with her is that she should rebel more. I don’t want to make fun of one of my favorite students… that would be mean spirited. Wait no, all my students are my favorite.
Andrea: Ms. Klein has helped me at Paly more than I can say — from kicking my butt in sophomore English, to keeping me sane my junior year, to giving me general life advice this year. I’ll try to rebel more…
