Tim Walz

MSNBC - In the late 1990s, Mr. Walz was my global geography teacher at Mankato West High School in Minnesota. I’ll never forget sitting in his class as he passionately delivered his lesson of the day. Mr. Walz didn’t simply stand at the front of the room and talk at his students. He gestured. He paced. He asked us questions.He made us excited to learn about the world beyond our small town.

Our high school didn’t have air conditioning, and you knew it had been a lively class when sweat lined Mr. Walz’s brow by the time the bell rang. The guy never stopped moving. He made us excited to learn about the world beyond our small town.

Mr. Walz shared many of his experiences with us, from growing up in Nebraska to serving in the National Guard. (I recall the day he explained why he often spoke so loudly. He had some hearing loss from his time in the Guard.) Before coming to Minnesota, Mr. Walz had spent time teaching in China. He shared his experiences there and even taught us a bit of Pinyin, the Chinese phonetic system that uses the Latin alphabet.

During one particularly memorable class, Mr. Walz and another student were quietly arguing at the front of the room. The argument escalated until the student shoved his desk. Mr. Walz sent the student to the principal’s office.

The rest of us sat in silent shock — until the student came back into class with a grin on his face. Mr. Walz admitted they had staged the whole “argument.” He then asked each of us to write an account of what had happened. We all remembered the incident slightly differently. He taught us a valuable and powerful lesson on perspective, memory and eyewitness testimony.