Letters to AHSAA
From
Kirsti (Place)
Minion 1995 AHS Alumna
April 26, 2007
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Dear AHS Alumni,
Mr. John Forssman (AHS English teacher) retired after a
43-year teaching career. 38 of those years have been spent here at
Ames High
School. He is our only
AHS retiree this year, and we are putting
together an iMovie presentation to show at our annual retirement breakfast later in May. Many of
you were lucky enough to be in one of his classes, and we are hoping you may have some photos you
can share with us to add to the slideshow. We really want to make this a special movie for Mr.
Forssman! Any photos you would like to share can be
emailed to:
kirsti.minion (at) ames.k12.ia.us
replace (at) w @
Thank you in advance,
Kirsti (Place) Minion
AHS
class of '95 and AHS
Media Specialist
Click to see a photo collage of
Spirit yearbook photos of Mr. Forssman
AHS senior
Web Staff reporter
Brandon
Hurley wrote a nice article about Mr. Forssman for the AHS student
newspaper,
"The Web".
You can find the original article about Mr. Forsssman, which was
published on 3/9/2007
here. I copied the article below for your convenience.
Mr. Forssman meets the gold standard of teaching
By Brandon
Hurley
A room with walls covered in paper may not seem very exciting to many
people, but to John Forssman and his students they are a thing of
beauty. These pieces of paper are not just blank sheets, they have
quotes written by Ames High students. For 38 years, Forssman has brought
the quotes to life while teaching English at Ames High School and he is
deeply loved by many. If you ask any student that has had him as a
teacher, they will tell you he is one of the more exciting teachers they
have ever had.
Forssman teaches American Literature, English 10 Family and English
10 Teen, and he is exceptional in each class. "The best part of teaching
is learning how to teach from students," Forssman said. For those of you
who don't know, Forssman is retiring at the end of the semester after 43
years of teaching. He spent his first five years at East Waterloo and
has been at Ames High ever since. "One of the things I love most about
Ames High is being able to be a student again," Forssman said.
Golden Ideas are what Forssman likes to call the quotes and he has
different levels for the quality of each quote. The first level of a
golden idea is a gold highlighted sentence. The second level is a
highlight and a single star next to the quote. A double star and a
highlight is the third level. This is the level where the quote was an
above average statement. And the final level is the rare triple star. A
triple star is for an exceptional quote that is one of a kind. Forssman
has only given a few of these throughout the years, less then 10 to be
exact, that is how great the quote has to be. "Any good idea is on its
way to a triple star, "he said. If you are wondering why Forssman is
obsessed with putting quotes on the wall, you must understand, these are
not ordinary quotes. They are reflections on poems, novels and other
things done in the English classes. It takes a lot of concentration to
get more than just a highlight. You have to dig deep within yourself to
come up with something special. "Once an idea is born it continues to
grow through expression."
For many of you right now, you may be thinking, "Why should we care
about these quotes?" You should care because the quotes help the student
appreciate literature more and force the student to actually read the
material they are assigned. Forssman also has some other ideas that help
the student become one with the literature. One of his main topics is
clues. Clues help you understand what has happened and what will happen
in the story. And if you ask Forssman what the master clue of a story
is, he will tell you it is the title.
One of the most exciting parts of Forssman's classes is the King
Arthur Roundtable discussions. The King Arthur Roundtable is where deep
clue conversations are held when a book is finished. A clue conversation
is a discussion of four to five people sitting around a table talking
about a certain topic from a book. Many of the double stars on the wall
have been created at the King Arthur Roundtable.
If you're lucky enough to currently be in one of Mr. Forssman's
classes, make it your goal to get on the wall of quotes and let yourself
shine at the King Arthur Roundtable. It's your last chance.
Tribute to Mr. Forssman
by Mark Lagomarcino Monday, May 14, 2007
It has been a long time since I sat in Mr. Forssman's Honors American
Literature class, but even after 34 years I remember many things about
it. I had always enjoyed reading, but Mr. Forssman opened the door to
the very best authors and works and helped me appreciate the depth and
nuance that made reading a wonderful experience. As I look back at his
class I realize that we worked very hard but it didn't seem like work at
the time. I would never have thought to come to class unprepared because
I would never have wanted to disappoint Mr. Forssman. I spent a semester
at an Ivy League college and when I was leaving I told my friends that
when I arrived I was intimidated by their elite prep school backgrounds
and didn't know if I was prepared well enough. They laughed and told me
that they were intimidated by me as I had read more literature than
anyone they had ever met. Mr. Forssman's class was the most intellectual
environment I ever experienced and the lessons I learned there have
served me well through these many years. Thank you Mr. Forssman.
Mark Lagomarcino
Ames High class of 1974
Web Editors note:
Yes, I was one of the thousands that
Mr. Forssman taught over 43 years. John Forssman was my 12th
grade English teacher at Ames High School from
1973 to 1974. We could sit anywhere we liked, but for 1 year I always
sat 3 rows over from the right side and 1 up from the back. I remember
grudgingly reading "The Classics" and then for heavens sake, we talked
about them in class, out loud! I didn't fully appreciate his teaching
style until a couple decades later when my own kids attended AHS, and I
was pushing for them to have, no, to experience Mr. Forssman's unique
teaching abilities. A few more years passed, and almost by accident I
again re-discovered "The Classics", especially John Steinbeck. In
fact, so much so that I'm heading to visit Monterey, CA and Cannery Row
next week. Thank you Mr. Forssman for your patience and perseverance 30+
years ago, it is still paying off.
Ed Hendrickson Jr. AHS 1974. 4/26/2007
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