A teacher with a true passion for helping our planet, Mr. Kommer has the “cure.” “He knows so much,” Olivia Percoco, the current president of CURE told me. “He’s just so experienced. You can ask him anything and he just knows.”
Mr. Kommer began CURE, a club here at WHBHS, to help protect our environment. He also teaches Marine and Environmental Science, two awesome courses in our school that give students unique hands-on experiences maintaining various fish tanks and studying life under the sea. He even created an entire filtration system for his classroom. But did you know that Mr. Kommer is also a poet?
Mr. Kommer began writing poetry when he was just 16 years old that focused on topics such as love, nature, friends, and despair. His wife, Mrs. Kommer, who also works at WHBHS told me, “He focuses on what he is feeling at the time, what inspired him at the time he wrote it.”
Although he considers the intuitive level of his poems to be high, he also thinks his creativity is low. But Mrs. Kommer disagrees, “He’s being modest.” Regarding the overall depth of the poetry, Mrs. Kommer says, “Oh man, it’s intense. It’s deep; sometimes you have to read it three times to get the depth.” Even though he writes poetry when the feeling strikes him, he also makes sure to write his brother a poem every year for his birthday. But, Mrs. Kommer wishes he would write more often.
When asked which animal he is most like, Mr. Kommer considers himself to be like a Killer Whale. “They are strong, intelligent, family oriented, and good in the water.” However, he would never write a poem comparing himself to a Killer Whale, but would write a poem comparing himself to a Redwood Tree. “A long life, beauty, strength, it’s just one of the most magnificent organisms on this planet.”
Mr. Kommer is fascinated by the natural world around us and although he is not religious, he believes the “diversity of life on planet earth proves a higher power.”
Mr. Kommer has a passion for everything he does. He is a great teacher who is very committed to his students and takes what he does very seriously. Additionally, Mr. Kommer is a poet and we didn’t even know it!
