He was enjoying studying biological lab sciences at Davenport University but wasn’t sure about his career path. When he was 19 years old, he started coaching high school soccer, and being in that atmosphere made him rethink his career path. He transitioned to teaching shortly thereafter and found himself at Wellspring Prep as a biology teacher.
“I enjoyed coaching, and I enjoyed being there for high schoolers, teaching them. It was just fun,” he said. “I really have enjoyed it and enjoyed getting to work with young people.”
Rewa arrived at Wellspring Prep in January 2023, and it didn’t take long for him to know that his decision, to not only be a teacher but to do so at a school that outperforms the district, was the correct one. It has even taken him back to what piqued his interest in teaching, as he is currently coaching the girls soccer team.
“Even though I was here halfway through the year I came in and started building connections with students immediately,” he said. “I’m coming here and I’m making a difference for people that maybe don’t always have someone making a difference in their lives.”
It took some time for Rewa to get adjusted to all the prep work that goes into teaching, such as preparing lesson plans and setting up the classroom. Going through that for the first time is a learning process, and mastering all the little things also means a small win at each step.
“I kind of assumed that I would just walk in and be like, ‘All right, guys. We’re going to do this, and this’ and they would just do that, that,” he said. “Boy, I've never been more wrong ever. That's just not how teaching works at all.”
Working with students and making connections is and always will be the upside of teaching. Rewa said there’s no better feeling than visibly seeing a kid click all of a sudden and start to pick up on the lesson.
His message to students is to put forth an honest effort every day in his classroom, no matter the circumstances.
“The thing I push to everybody is just continue to work hard and be yourself,” he said. “Even if we’re having a bad day and maybe working hard is only giving 15%, 20%, 25%, that’s still what I'm expecting to be given. There’s no point where I’m in here putting the expectations down at zero.”
Keep up the excellent work, Mr. Rewa!
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About Wellspring Preparatory High School
Wellspring Preparatory High School is a tuition-free, public charter school in Grand Rapids, Michigan, serving students in ninth through 12th grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies (NHA®) network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
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