Extra effort by Paul Swartz pays off for students

Joseph Woolley considers himself a perfectionist, which made a perfect fit with Paul Swartz’s advanced placement language and composition class. Swartz allows students to rewrite their essays until they get the grade they desire.

“It was not so much about the grade, but about the writing,” Woolley said.

He appreciated his teacher spending time after class going over his revisions.

“It basically legitimizes the hard work you do as a student when a teacher reciprocates that effort,” Woolley said.

Swartz was equally impressed by Woolley’s dedication as he turned in papers again and again for critique.

“He’s the epitome of a hard worker, doing the best he can to improve,” Swartz said.

The extra effort paid off. Woolley is ranked second in his graduating class, is a National Honor Society member and board member for the Ignite student mentoring program. Woolley plans to attend the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma and major in business or economics. He has donated more than 350 volunteer hours at Kootenai Medical Center as a Teen Volunteer.

The college application process confirmed for Woolley the value of Swartz’s lessons.

“Being able to write well is an incredible asset to students in any situation,” Woolley said.

After 10 years of teaching, Swartz found the NISTAR award speeches inspiring and reminded him of a teacher’s influence.

“Sometimes you don’t know who you’ve affected,” he said. “Having students recognize what you’ve done, especially these kids, the best and brightest, it makes you want to keep going, keep teaching.”

Along with writing well, Woolley hopes to follow in Swartz’s footsteps by finding a career that is fulfilling.

“He genuinely loves what he does,” Woolley said. “If I could get to that point, I would be very happy.”