When walking into Mr. Lopez’s 6th and 7th grade classroom you are immediately greeted with the enthusiastic and entertaining science teacher who is well-liked among all of his students. Whether he is sitting with his students at lunch or talking to them about their day after school, Mr. Lopez is a friend and mentor to all. When growing up in Tucson, Arizona, Lopez had always dreamed about being a middle school science teacher. Who may you ask is responsible for his early interest in teaching? His seventh grade science teacher Mr. Gabriel. “I wanted to be just like him,” Mr. Lopez says after recalling all of his cherished memories from that class, whether it was hands-on experiments or engaging class projects Mr. Lopez fell in love with science. In fact, Mr. Lopez ultimately implemented Gabriel’s teaching style in his own classroom by focusing on hands-on experiments and discoveries. After finishing college at Northern Arizona University Lopez started teaching in England and has since lived on Maui for four years. He also found that personally, Covid has grown his love for teaching, since he was unable to meet and interact with his students for so long and therefore realized just how much he missed it. His students have also taught him the importance of patience, a virtue that he will carry into all aspects of his life. Not only is he a caring and amusing teacher, he also has many other hobbies such as hosting trivia, running a radio program, powerlifting, surfing, and is an avid enthusiast of all things halloween! In fact this year he is planning on going all out and dressing up as a cheerleader!