Mr. Eli Okman and Mr. Mark Fine were my favorite teachers.  They both taught language arts.  Mr. Okman was a no nonsense teacher who encouraged me to excel, and Mr. Mark Fine was a friendly teacher who I wanted to be proud of me.  They were both so encouraging that I developed a real love of the English language.  They were each other's friend and collaborated to make certain that things went well for me despite some difficult times I was having navigating through adolescence.