“Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change,” entrepreneur Jim Rohn said.
This is one of many quotes on history teacher Jake Sim’s Wall of Wisdom, seen by all that enter his room. Students say the wall is filled with empowering words that motivate them, but Sims has other ways to motivate students.

Sims starts off every class period with a group activity called Good Things. Everyone in the class is encouraged to be involved. The idea is that students announce to the class something odd, funny, or good going on around them in their life. 

“Good Things is an opportunity for the students and I to connect more, because it’s difficult to know what’s going on in a kid’s life by just asking them what’s going on,” Sims said. 

Sims’ teaching is more about having a connection similar to a friendship while still maintaining that teacher authority barrier. 

“He makes class really fun by knowing how to take a joke and give it back,” junior Taylor Braungardt said. 

Building these types of trust and relationships can help impact a student for many years to come.

“The relationship between student and teacher plays a large role in the trajectory of a child’s academic success and social development,” Ricardo Gonzalez said in his article “The Importance of Positive Student-Teacher Relationships.” 

Making connections with students can help them be more comfortable in a learning environment where they may have trouble focusing or getting their work done. This is beneficial because if the student is comfortable with their environment they can retain more information and learn. 

“Establishing a positive relationship with their teacher helps a student feel more comfortable and safe in their classroom environments,” Gonzalez said. 

This isn’t to say that other teachers in the building aren’t doing the same thing, with building student-teacher connections and making their classroom a comfortable environment.

“Jake Sims is the best at building those student connections, especially with everything he does to help out with CAPPS and run his basketball team,” secretary Tricia Brown said.