Page 29 - PINE CREST 2005

Andrew Malcolm and Lydia Fein may very well be destined to teach at PC, but if they want any
chance of being popular with their students, they’re going to want to take a page out of Raymond
Sessman’s book. In the seventeen years he’s been teaching here, this infamous head of the Social
Science Department has won Favorite Teacher a record number of times and writes more college recs
than Shakespeare wrote plays and sonnets combined. Clearly this Sessman character is a man trusted,
respected, and loved amongst his students. So I decided to conduct an interview with this luminary in
hopes of discovering the secrets of the man behind the legend. Here are my findings:

Sessman Secret 1: See Only the Good in People and Forge a Relationship

Mr. Sessman attributes his massive pile of Teacher Recommendation Requests to his ability to find
the inner beauty in all of his students. He thinks that, especially in a college prep school like Pine Crest,
it’s important for teachers to forge real relationships with their students. Only after such a relationship is
formed can a teacher evaluate character. “I cannot think of a student I’ve disliked in all my 35 years of
teaching,” he stated. And while other teachers use their dislikes to justify refusing rec requests, Mr.
Sessman has a perfect track record. “I have never turned away a student,” he said, “but I won’t lie in a
recommendation. I will not say anything that’s not true.”

Sessman Secret 2: The Way to a High Schooler's Heart is Through Jokes
Mr. Sessman’s inherently optimistic character can be further observed in his GoPo classroom. Prepared
with a litany of jokes each and every class period, Mr. Sessman greets all students with hearty enthusiasm
and can rarely be found in ill temper. But even better than the cheesy one-liners and dumb blondes are
Mr. Sessman’s famous innuendos. Finally, someone who addresses the topic w e’re most interested in!
But underneath this exterior jokester lies a genuinely sincere man with a heartfelt goal. About his comedic
reputation, Mr. Sessman said, “It’s nice and all that, but I want to be respected. People can like you one
day and hate you the next, all depending on how the wind blows. But respect is permanent.”

Sessman Secret 3: Prom ise Extra Credit to Political Forum Attendees

When he caught wind of a political union at Yale University, Mr. Sessman saw the answer to a
dilemma expressed by many of his students. It seems these confused kids just couldn’t figure out if they
were Democrats or Republicans. So the Pine Crest Political Forums was born, bringing Republicans,
Democrats, strategists, lobbyists, and other political professionals directly to the students. Then Mr.
Sessman had an even greater idea, possibly the greatest in the history of the ICI: give the students extra
credit for attending Political Forums. Suddenly, these sessions had a consistently 100% attendance rate.
But he’s not naive about the suspicious increase in political-minded students. Rather he hopes that just a
few students will get a little more out of PoFos than just the extra points they expected. “If we excite a
handful of people a year into taking government or to becoming active or to becoming good citizens,

then that has done it’s job. We want to spark something.”

So there you have it. Mr. Sessman isn’t one of the most popular teachers around just because he’s an
easygoing, charismatic guy who always has a joke on hand. He exudes a passion for teaching, history,
government, and politics that can be detected from a mile away. And since he end of his Pine Crest
career in his sights, you’d better sign up for GoPo while you still can, this commodity is rare.
Almost like a Sessman class without laughter.

Robin Cherof
25 Sessman