Finding Ways to Connect — Sparking Young Minds

People today have the misconception that a hero is a scantily clad pop star singing ballads at the MTV Video Music Awards. What most young people fail to see is that the people they are around seven hours of their day are the truest heroes one will ever find.

Wil Lobko, an English teacher at The Meadows School, has always been an inspiration to his students. Lobko has a way of being able to involve and engage students in literary works that would otherwise bore them.

Lobko says he has been passionate about English from the time he was young. He would always write in a journal and read some "pretty geeky stuff." In eighth grade, Lobko was able to advance to ninth grade English, putting him ahead of all of his friends.

Lobko says he did not always know that he wanted to be an English teacher. In fact, it wasn't until a few years after high school that he decided.

"I was walking through the quad at Vassar University to an English class, and I saw a light shining on the library," Lobko says. "It was at that moment that everything clicked, and it was no longer as if I was walking to another class, but rather walking towards my future."

Lobko has a way of reaching his students.

"I enjoy finding ways to connect what students enjoy to what I am teaching," he says. "For example, when I was teaching 'The Odyssey,' I brought in an article about 'The Dark Knight' because it was something that interested the students, but also I was able to use it as a way to connect the two heroes."

Lobko enjoys teaching English to all students, but his favorite are freshmen.

"Everything is so new to them," he says. "Also, they know how to have fun, but they also know when to stop."

Lobko says he tries to bring out the deeper meaning of literature and usually that meaning has a way of exciting his students.

"I used to despise English, but Mr. Lobko has a way of making English enjoyable because of his enthusiasm towards everything he teaches," says Lauran Keon-Beyer, a sophomore at The Meadows School.

As well as being passionate about English, Lobko says he has a strong love of music. This second love blossomed from the time of recording music and turning it into mixed tapes.

He began recording a lot of "poppy stuff" but eventually figured out that there was more to music than what was played on the radio.

Lobko also expresses his love for music by playing acoustic as well as electric guitar.

"I love to make noise," he says.

As far as incorporating music into his English classes, it is very difficult, Lobko says. However, when explaining the importance of meter, he will play a Bob Dylan song so that the class is able to soak in the excellence of metrical rhythm.

At the end of each year, Lobko offers a film study for his English students. This allows him to "mix the media up a bit."

Lobko says the force that drives him to teach is the feeling he gets when his students gain a greater understanding of literature.

"To be the one that is able to see the spark of excitement that students get when the meaning of a work is delivered to them makes my job 10 times better," Lobko says.