Dear Mr. Evans

I'm going to change things up a little here and include the second half of my speech from tonight because I think it is just as important as any blog I've ever written.

As I wrap up this part of my speech, I just want everyone in this room to take this moment to reflect on how you got here and how you can help one person believe in themselves and their own thoughts and ideas as much as they believe in Google, Photomath or Chat GPT.

Interestingly enough, the person who helped me believe in myself more than anyone else is sitting right behind me, so I’m going take this opportunity to honor him publicly one last time.  

As many of you know, this will be Mr. Evans’ last NHS induction ceremony 

What you may not know is that I wouldn’t be standing here if it weren’t for him… actually I don’t think I would’ve gone to college or entertained the idea that I could teach, write or travel the world even though those things are at the core of who I am.  After having him as my 11th grade teacher and exploring 6 European countries with him as my guide, I did go to college (for at very long time) and I followed in his footsteps in a few other ways… I became an English teacher, I actually taught 11th grade English, I was a NHS advisor, and I took MY students to 13 European countries. 

Of course Mr. Evans taught me how to analyze Shakespeare and how to write a stellar essay, but I’m not even talking about those things.  Mr. Evans gave me the confidence to go after my dreams, the perspective to prove all my critics wrong, a willingness to revise my words and beliefs and a love of adventure and world travel.  He also taught me how to show up for others, how to crack a joke to break up a heavy concept, how to do what I felt was right (even when it was a little unconventional), and how to be the change I wanted to see in the world.

Obviously, gifts like those deserve more than a thank you note, so I posted about this speech and the end of Mr. Evans’ reign here at NP on social media where I knew he would never see it.  I asked our community to share any stories they had about him and his impact throughout the years - thankfully KRZ made this a little easier for me by honoring him as their Rockstar Teacher last fall.

My inbox was flooded with messages from his students over the last 30 years and it became blatantly clear that my story is just one of many.  I heard from students who followed their dreams to pursue a variety of careers because of him, some who never read a book until they saw how passionate he was about literature, and quite a few who, like me, decided they wanted to become teachers because of him.  

I got travel notes from his many European adventures and I got a lot of really funny stories.  I got shout outs from students who loved him and never had him as a teacher - they just benefited from his Mr. Evans-ness in the hallway, and I also got notes from the quiet kids who were pretty sure they would not be remembered years later. Their stories ended up being my favorite because they paint a picture of a teacher who really saw them and inspired them to open their minds, believe in themselves, and navigate the often tough and awkward high school years with hope, resilience and positivity.  

I wish I had time to read all of the stories here tonight, but I promised to keep this relatively short, so I collected their stories into a book of stories and snapshots of an incredible career and, since everyone else echoed many of my sentiments, I am going to try to do the impossible and sum up the magnificence of Mr. Tomm Evans in a few final paragraphs… 

The truth is that I've been blessed to teach so many different topics to all ages locally, nationally, and globally and none of those lessons would've been created or shared if it wasn't for Mr. Evans.  I now know, after making dozens of new friends who share my eternal gratitude, that there have been more lessons created in his honor than he will ever actually know and that means that there are infinite students who will benefit from his passion, expertise, and wisdom as those ripples continue.

His class was incredibly challenging for many of us.  For me, but it was my first real taste of poetry that I could actually FEEL, it was an introduction to dystopian literature that pushed me to question my own perception of reality, and most importantly - it was a welcoming place where I could discover my ability to leverage the written and spoken word to accomplish my goals and help other people.  

The others talked about the Canterbury Tales (a lot), 1984, Beowulf, The Lord of the Flies, and Macbeth, of course.  Almost all of them mentioned his sense of humor and I had to laugh at how many of us have our vocabulary words forever ingrained in our memories - seriously at least five different people intentionally used the word acumen in their note to him!

Obviously reading, writing, speaking and vocab are important skills that he helped us with, but the real lessons we got weren’t really about English. 

Mr. Evans challenged us to do better and we became better.  He saw value in our work and we, in turn, saw value in working hard.  Most importantly, he saw us as individuals, pointed out our potential, and treated us as if we matter - not because of what we achieve, but because of who we are.  All of that taught so many students - past and present - the most important lesson of all - to believe in our incredible imperfect selves.

There’s no way to capture all that he has accomplished and all that he means to this school, this community, and the thousands of lives he's impacted, but there is a way that we can all honor that legacy…

When you leave here tonight, I challenge each of you to find a way to thank the people in your life who got you where you are today and I also challenge you to be like Mr. Evans - be passionate about your interests, choose to do what you love to do, encourage others to find and use their strengths, try to be positive even when things are challenging, keep people laughing and never, ever underestimate the impact of your interactions with others.

I’m going to have to hand this back over to him now (along with this book of stories from his students over the last three decades) but before I do that, I would love for everyone to please join me in a round of applause for Mr. Evans and his incredible legacy here at North Pocono High School.