One of the main things a lot of students say is “I’ll never need this in the future”.

For Teacher of the Year nominee Richard Sabatier, the focus is on preparing students for what’s to come after high school.

“I’d say my mindset as far as teaching is I am preparing my students for whatever comes next. Is the content part of that?,” Sabatier said. “I want them to walk out of my class knowing some biology, knowing something about environmental science, but I want them to walk out of my class as more complete people, more empathetic, more ready to take on whatever comes next and just just better, nicer, more prepared people.”

On campus since his first year teaching, the honor means a lot to Sabatier.

“It means a lot. So I started at Liberty when I was 22 years old, right out of college and Liberty when I was interviewing for jobs, liberty was the only place that even called me back. And so to come from that, just like this kid basically to being recognized by some people that are, I have immense respect for. It’s just a huge honor. It means a lot. and yeah, it’s nice.”

In her first semester having Sabatier as a teacher, senior Karina Grokhovskaya can already see Sabatier’s passion for teaching 

“The way that he teaches is, like, very unique,” Grokhovskaya said. “There’s no really, like way to describe Mr. Sabatier, if that makes any sense. i just think that, you know, he has a passion for teaching and he has a passion for teaching students”

Sabatier’s understanding nature is what stands out to senior Shruti Bhoyar. 

“I think that Mr. Sabatier is one of those teachers that is empathetic towards students and is really understanding of what’s going on,” Bhoyar said. “So he’s just an all around good person and a good teacher.”