It’s All Greek to Me!
~ by Rebekah Lynner
Although Mr. Clark Brooking was only a teacher at Granite for two years, he was a favorite among his 8th and 9th grade Greek students. Mr. Brooking’s students really enjoyed translating passages, but all agree that their favorite part was discussing and interpreting the meaning of those passages. He encouraged them to think about scripture and “not just listen to what others say,” in the words of Aaron Paul. Jessie McDaniel went so far as to say, “I think his 9th grade Greek class might have been my all-time favorite at Granite. It was fun, challenging, complex, and thought provoking.”
Mr. Brooking inspired his students to explore their faith and really get into the Bible to see what it means. Several of his students said that he challenged them to look at the Bible from “many different angles.” His 9th grade class loved the fact that the class was about translating the Bible and required very few tests. They really enjoyed the heated debates on translation among other things. He took a “terrifying, dead language that won’t help me do anything” and made it a fun, interesting class that still has relevance for today.
Mr. Brooking’s teaching style was one of a kind. “No other teacher could be like him.” stated Rachel Cumby. Grace Link commented, “He was very sincere in teaching and dedicated to the class and the language.” She also said, “[He was] very passionate about his faith and expressed it through his teaching.” Jesse McDaniel expressed, “He was able to come down to our level and converse with us. He didn’t talk ‘at’ us, he talked ‘to’ us. He was encouraging. I really felt like he just wanted us to learn and understand the Bible on another level.”Aaron Paul said, “He explained things like a skirt; long enough to cover the subject, and short enough to keep it interesting.” They all agree that they were fortunate to have him as a teacher.
