Wielding weird words in Waseca

Many Waseca High School students who have attended at least one of  Mr. Marc Engesether’s language arts courses will agree that he is one of their favorite teachers. Mr. E, as they affectionately refer to him, has been at WJSH since 1999 and teaches sophomore language arts and literature,  foundations of literature for grades 11 and 12, advanced placement (AP) English for juniors, and AP English for seniors. 

Language arts classes are full of heavy material. They can quickly become mundane and colorless, but Mr. E definitely has a distinctive set of skills to keep his students engaged and learning. These tend to include finding ways to connect with each student, discussing various music concerts he’s attended (there’ve been a lot!), and sprinkling random humorous comments in his lectures. In fact, dropping unexpected statements throughout his class periods is a quirk one class in particular appreciated so much, five students collected those they regarded as the best over their two years and published the final list in a hardcover book. The five presented a copy to Mr. Engesether during the summer after their graduation. Making the cut for October 15 of 2018: “There’s a message on my phone, but I can’t remember my password. There’s been a message on there for three years. I hope it wasn’t important.”  Or while discussing vocabulary: “Ambiguous, that’s like a frog. No, that’s amphibious. ‘Ambiguous’ is a really big frog.” The 2018 Google document was kept current through February of 2022. “I’m so proud of them!” says one of the founding students referring to the subsequent classes.

Marc Engesether claims it’s important to find a way to relate to each of his students, especially those who don’t care for English or find it difficult. He feels he can empathize with those students because he was once one of them. When he was in high school, he felt many of his teachers didn’t make a connection with him. Because of that, he says he likes to teach in ways he feels his former teachers did not.

The students say Mr. E provides an environment that allows expression and growth, not only in language arts but for them as people. Those who are college-bound say they feel well prepared to handle their advanced courses. One former student of Mr. E’s, now a college senior, says she still references the comments he made on her old assignments while writing her papers. “What would Mr. E think about this sentence? What would he tell me?” She feels her papers are smoother and her grades are higher due to Mr. E’s teaching.

In their messages at the back of their book, the students of the class of 2019 repeatedly express their gratitude for the amount of time, effort, and passion Engesether put into his classes, their aspirations to attend at least as many concerts as he has (if not more), and to spread the “Engesetherean” way of writing and teaching— “What’s a hypophora? It’s one less than a hypofivea” (March 22, 2019).  

People commonly use the phrase “you had to be there,” to appreciate the meaning and humor of Engesether’s statements. It seems that “being there” is both a privilege and a pleasure.