From telling jokes to teaching, Zach Osterwisch has definitely found a favorite teacher throughout his four years of high school. That teacher is Brian Stemmermann who is one of the only shop teachers in the school. Zach first joined Stemmerman in freshmen year and continued to be in his classes all four years. Zach really bonded with Stemmermann when he saw how enthusiastic Stemmermann was about helping him learn and how much knowledge he could offer about the field of engineering.

“The advice that really stuck with me is that I need to keep track of old notes and keep them in order,” Zach said. “I put that advice to use this year when I had to look up how to do something for my project.”

Zach has gotten a lot of advice from Stemmermann, but to keep all his PLTW class notes with him is one he has taken to heart. He plans on possibly using his old notes if he needs to while in college.

“Zach, to me, is student who’s had a lot of success and he is also very intellegent, getting all of work done on time and done right,” Stemmermann said.

Through common interests and Stemmermann being a open teacher, it was really easy for Zach to get along with him and learn from him, creating that student-teacher bond over the four years. Zach’s favorite memories with Stemmermann are the constant dad joke, or  “Stem jokes” as the class has coined the jokes that Stemmermann makes in class.

The two have become very fond of each other and enjoy each other’s presence. Even though Zach graduates this year, he and Stemmermann plan on keeping in contact through class visits and emails.

“I will always be there for my students if they need advice or a letter of recommendation,” Stemmermann said.