By Crystal Hayduk
Scott Riedel has been selected as this year’s Beach Middle School Honored Educator by the top ten academic honors students. He accompanied the students to the Academic Honors Night festivities on May 11, and will address the eighth grade class at their farewell ceremony on June 9.
In his 11th year with the Chelsea School District, Riedel instructs seventh grade math and science, but has also taught electives, including hands on science, robotics, electronics, and sixth grade technology.
Teaching is not Riedel’s first career. In the late 90s, life circumstances dictated the need for a major job change. While he earned a living selling cars at Palmer Ford, he volunteered his free time to the First United Methodist Church as a preschool Sunday School teacher and a middle school youth leader.
“On the drive back from a youth group trip to Michigan’s Adventure Park, Pastor Rick Dake and I were discussing my job situation,” Riedel said. “He asked me what I liked doing, and I told him that my favorite thing was working with the kids. It was like a light bulb moment – I knew then that I wanted to be a teacher.”
Riedel has always put teachers on a pedestal, but prior to that point in his life, he wouldn’t have imagined that he could be a member of that elite group. “If my teachers in Asheville, North Carolina knew that I became a teacher, they would laugh,” he said.
Riedel returned to college and graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a double major in math and science, earning a 4.0 grade point average. He obtained his Master’s Degree in math from Marygrove College, also with high honors. His academic achievements might have surprised his own middle school teachers as much as his finding his niche in the field of education.
“I failed seventh grade,” Riedel admitted. “I had to repeat the whole year. Eventually, I began to take school seriously and by the end of my senior year, I had made the ‘B’ honor roll.”
The irony of failing seventh grade and yet being in the position of an honored middle school educator today is not lost on Riedel, but he believes that he’s in the perfect place. “I completely understand the unmotivated seventh grader,” Riedel said. He clearly remembers having other priorities at that age, and as a result, he knows how to connect with his students.
A recent example of Riedel’s ability to inspire students involved fundraising for toys for Mitch Albom Charities last fall. By Thanksgiving, students had raised $500 with a goal of $1,000. But when Riedel, who had nearly two years earlier decided to grow his hair long “just once” to see if he could, offered the three students who raised the most money the privilege of cutting his hair, earnings shot up to $1,500 in only a few weeks. When he assigned students to research and vote for a place to donate his hair, they chose Locks of Love.
Riedel credits Jean Meconi, the (now retired) fifth grade Chelsea teacher who supervised his student teaching, for beginning to mold him into the teacher he is today. “She’s absolutely the most incredible teacher I’ve ever seen,” he said.
He also believes that he’s a better teacher now because of the influence of Beach’s principal, Nick Angel. “His standards are very high.”
Riedel humbly expresses admiration for those he works with every day. “This school has some really great teachers. There’s not a single one that I don’t envy in some way.”
Angel appreciates Riedel’s methods. “Scott is an excellent educator who uses innovative teaching strategies, humor and hands on activities to reach and challenge his students. He is deserving of this recognition from our top students,” he said.
Riedel advises his students to follow his career choice approach. “Find something you love to do, and you’ll never work another day in your life.”
