Mrs. Elsasser, our amazing engineering teacher, is unfortunately not going to be here at Harrison high school anymore as she is heading to write curriculum and run a program at Butler Tech. Mrs. Elsasser is a sweet, kind, hardworking, and immersive teacher who works as an engineering teacher here at Harrison High School. She is known for being a great teacher not only because she is nice or cool but also because she actually teaches kids things in a fun and hands-on learning process.
All of her students have spoken highly of her. At this year’s Robotics Award Night, for example, the graduating seniors gave her the Athena award, which represented wisdom, reason, and craftsmanship. A graduating student of Mrs. Elsasser summed it up like this: “She believes in us, even when we do not believe in ourselves. She pushes us to be better, while always supporting us along the way. Because of her, many of us have discovered not only a love for engineering, but a belief in our own potential. That is why the Athena Award is so fitting.” Another group of graduating seniors gave her the Deep Roots Award, saying “Before I met Mrs. Elsasser, I had no thought of engineering being a career for me, but now it’s all I can think about.”
Just from these 2 completely different people we can already see how amazing Mrs. Elsasser what she is has done not only for the school community and her students but also for the economy and people’s lives. One of her students could very much change the world. I sent out a poll and asked students to share a memory they have of her or something they will remember forever and I had many answers of people saying that she helped them through very dark times and saying how sweet and hardworking she is, and other things like “She has helped me with more things than she could imagine and I hope she finds success wherever she is going, I’m certain she will.” and another student who goes in her room for lunch said “Even though she doesn’t really know me that well, she still asked about my plans after high school and took a genuine interest.”
Overall, Mrs. Elsasser isn’t just leaving behind an empty classroom, she’s leaving a huge legacy at Harrison. It’s clear that she’s made a massive impact, whether it’s through winning awards like the Athena Award or just being a supportive person to talk to during lunch. She didn’t just give students worksheets; she actually made them care about what they were building and helped them believe they could actually do something big with their lives. Even though it’s sad she’s retiring, the way she pushed students to be better is going to stay with everyone forever. Harrison High definitely won’t be the same without her, but we’re all so lucky we got to experience her kindness and learn from her while we could.
