On December 13th, right after school, the MHS Student Council hosted a “teacher auction” in the cafeteria. Basically, each teacher that volunteered would have students bid for the ability to shadow them on the half-day before we left for break, December 23rd. Around 65 teachers and administrators including Mr. Sauter, (who is the advisor to the newspaper club), Mr. Uplinger (the teacher that I won the auction for), and Principal Boylan participated in the event and raised hundreds of dollars. The money was donated to various charities, including those befitting victims of the floods in Louisiana, victims of Hurricane Matthew, and various children’s hospitals.

I had the privilege of “purchasing” Mr. Uplinger at the auction. In most of his classes, I helped moderate what is called an “Arena Debate” which was about whether to alter or abolish the electoral college. I obviously have an opinion on the subject, but, in listening to both sides debate throughout the day, I was exposed to many people’s views on the subject that I had not previously considered, which was very intriguing. My day shadowing Mr. Uplinger was filled with thought-provoking conversations, exposure to new interpretations of subjects that I had not been previously exposed to, and a bit of fun (especially when one class sang Christmas carols because they were in the holiday spirit). It was definitely a very rewarding day, and I would recommend to participate in the next teacher auction, whenever that may be.