Thomas Benson, a 2015 graduate, has returned to Streetsboro High School to tutor and help students with academic and emotional issues. 

Benson said the teachers were the most memorable part of his experience as a high schooler and had quite a bit of influence on his academic life. 

They really helped prepare him for college, he said. 

The four he said helped him the most were social studies teachers Kris Gaug, Robb Kidd and Sherry Maruna, and broadcasting teacher Bob Long.

Both Kidd and Maruna said Benson was smart and a good student.  

English teacher Megan Rumsey said Benson was an inquisitive student and also seemed wise beyond his years.  

“I remember feeling, at times, that it felt as if I was talking to a 50-year-old man and not a 16-year-old student,” she said. “I also remember Mr. Benson was very well read….He seemed to always be reading something, which I appreciated as an English teacher.” 

She said Benson was a naturally great reader and writer so she was not sure how much she actually helped him with those skills. She was able to offer him a platform to discuss literature and his viewpoints.

“The real value in having a student like Mr. Benson is that you can speak to him and converse with him as an adult to an adult,” she said. “…That is not the case with most of my students.”  

 Benson’s high school experience was in the former high school building at 1900 Annalane Drive.  

“The school was on it’s last leg,” he recalled. At that time, students wore “skinny jeans with big shoes,” he added. 

Benson said he returned to SHS because it was familiar. Streetsboro is a unique school and is very accepting of people, he added, and people here are able to have discussions. Other schools do not have that, Benson said. 

Benson has a bachelor’s degree in education and he studied integrated social studies. He is certified to teach grades 7-12.

Tutoring is going well right now, Benson said. He is learning more about becoming a tutor and a teacher every day. 

“I am hoping my students and everyone I interact with are learning like I am,” Benson said.