Many students have encountered many teachers in their educational life. Each teacher has something to teach their students whether it’s academically or just a life lesson. One amazing teacher that many students at Whitney Young believe is the best teacher is Mr. Rehak. Mr. Rehak has worked at Whitney Young for 28 years and teaches Honors II American Literature and 21st Century Multimedia Literacy. Not only this, but he is the best division teacher who really shows his care for his students. 

Former student, Jimena Saldana ‘22 states, “Mr. Rehak is an amazing teacher because he always allowed us to express ourselves in the work that we did. I remember in my sophomore year, our assignment was to draw a vocab word and not only did that help me expand my vocabulary; it also helped me be a divergent thinker. He also made our classroom feel like a safe community and we would do activities throughout the year to engage and learn about each other. In the end, I felt connected and comfortable with my classmates; something that I don’t experience often in my other classes. I appreciate Mr. Rehak a lot!!” Mr. Rehak has helped many students build relationships and find a sense of comfort in his classrooms. Anyone would be lucky to have a teacher who cares about their students feeling comfortable and knowing each other. 

Another perspective comes from Fallou Dia ‘22, “Mr. Rehak is a supportive teacher who helps his students. He makes English fun and engaging while giving out life lessons along the way.” It is often difficult to make school fun and engaging for students. However, Mr. Rehak was successfully able to make his students feel excited for class. His life lessons are also super important and helpful to know throughout life. This is yet another reason out of countless reasons why he is the best teacher ever. 

Another opinion comes from me, Annie Tan. Having been a student at Whitney Young for three years and having Mr. Rehak as a division teacher has been amazing. He is super lenient, kind, caring, and overall the best teacher ever. He is able to light up everyone’s mood every time my division and I enter his room. Everyone looks forward to seeing Mr. Rehak and listening to what he has to say each day. The DubTV episodes each week are always super entertaining and I enjoy watching them. I’m super glad that I’m able to be a part of DubTV and have Mr. Rehak as the teacher. He is super willing to help anyone at any time. I thank Mr. Rehak for everything he has done for all of his students. It makes everyone sad to know that he’s retiring, but we hope that he will visit super often. I hope Mr. Rehak has an amazing and fun time in retirement!