Mr. James Oblad – Taylorsville High School
Apr 22, 2008, 10:30 AM | Updated: Feb 13, 2024, 10:43 am
Hello, I’d like to nominate James Oblad, a biology, zoology, (and a few other sciences) High School teacher. He started teaching in 1972-at Cottonwood, and moved to Taylorsville in their opening year. He has taught for over 30 years! I wanted to nominate him because he has never received the recognition he has deserved (a pen at 25 years).
He raised 6 children on his own. I may be biased because I am 3rd out of those 6, but his teaching skills and intrigue has changed the way many think and feel.
His knowledge and teaching skills become part of how many students choose to live and decide their future. I still meet up with many classmates of mine at BYU and other places who have chosen their majors because of his example. I took an Environmental Biology class purely because of intrigue from his theories and recommendation. My desire to enjoy science and learn was fed by his humor and interesting spin on more difficult sections that could otherwise be hard to understand and ignore. I thought he would be easy on me and a few of my classmates, but he challenged us beyond what we thought would be to our capabilities. Not only does he care for students, he even worked on his Spanish for a couple years to reach other students, and even taught night school for about a decade.
Since he has been raising his 6 children, he has also been doing “home-hospitals” for the district. He visits students who are sick, afflicted, or otherwise unable to attend school and brings them their homework and helps them progress without physical appearance until they can return.
Again, my bias may hurt this petition, and I understand the awards of winning are great, yet he deserves some sort of accolade for his dedication to education, family, adolescents, and science. Adolescents that struggle because of maltreatment at home, trying to fit in with others, or find out who they are stop in at Mr. Oblad’s room and have a positive attitude change.
There is so much more I’d love to say- perhaps about his polio he has had his whole life, or his sacrifice to help his children’s family with medical care. I have learned so much from him. Being a teacher is a vast universal job. You never stop being an example…you always teach.
Please consider this petition and email or phone if other endorsements or questions are needed.
Thank you,
Timothy
