Sixth period (APUSH) was my favorite class of the day junior year.

Maybe it is because I love history. Maybe it is because that meant I only had two classes left of the day.

But probably, it is because John Conner is one of the best and most engaging teachers I have ever had.

When I was a freshman, my brother was a junior in Conner’s class. He would come home nearly every day and tell me the latest Conner-ism that had the class rolling on the floor laughing. Since hearing my brother rave about how awesome  Conner was, I was excited to take APUSH.

By the time junior year came around, however, I was of a different opinion. I had taken AP World History with Kevin Finn, and I loved the atmosphere of WHAP- it was basically a college class, we took notes and were lectured every day, we had surprise quizzes over the hour of homework that we did every night, and the tests were once every six weeks and incredibly stressful.

APUSH was a different atmosphere altogether. It was much more relaxed, with Conner more than willing to take a tangent from US History to discuss students and their big white suburbans or the sketchiness of (insert student’s name here) after-school activities.

At the beginning of the year, I wasn’t sure if I would like the reduced intensity in class. By the end of the year, however, sixth period was the highlight of my day.

Conner is one of the most eccentric and hilarious teachers I have every had, and his biting social commentary left no student, teacher, policy, event, inanimate object, or mythical creature untouched.

From openly roasting students in the classroom to applying ridiculous personas to characters in history to make them more interesting, to letting us help him decide what to wear to a concert he was attending, Conner made APUSH a class to remember.

Today, he announced to his classes that this is his last day teaching here on campus. This announcement shocked many at the school, and left many teachers and students stunned and disappointed.

Sophomores and freshman: I’m sorry you will never get to have Conner as your teacher. He was an excellent teacher that basically doubled as a stand up comedian, and I loved his class.

He will be missed. I know he has made a difference in the lives of many here on campus, and he has been the favorite teacher of countless students. I don’t know who will be around to keep all those rowdy Canadians, left-handed people, touchy couples in the hallway, Swedes, nerds, jocks, people with blonde hair, people with brown hair, people with no hair, and the general population of punky teenagers in line, but I wish him well in his future endeavors, whatever they may be.