St. Petersburg, Florida---For 20 years, teacher Fred Roemer has kept a watchful eye on his students in the classroom.
Roemer is a fifth grade teacher at Pinellas Park elementary.
His students are known as the polar bears and he's like the papa bear.
His path to the classroom was a little less traditional than most. While living in Hawaii, Roemer wasn’t fond of the schools so he decided to home school both of his daughters.
He fell in love with it right away. Pretty soon he was teaching other children in the neighborhood.
One of the first things you notice about Roemer is his soft spoken style. He has the kind of delivery that could make even bad news seem okay.
Many of his students say his quiet classroom helps them focus.
Roemer’s students work in pairs because he wants them to learn the importance of teamwork.
He also teaches his students the importance of valuable social skills.
On the day we visited his classroom he was teaching his students how to give a proper hand shake.
He instructs them to have a firm hand shake, look the other person in the eye without staring and when to stop shaking. Roemer says he has seen many students who come into the 5th grade without basic social skills. He knows that teaching them this now could possibly help them on a job interview down the road.
You would never guess this dad turned teacher was once a big surfer. He got his board in Miami at age 12 and kept going. He describes it as a great sport.
In a time when students have to spend hours surfing the web, Roemer says he teaches them lesson he learned surfing the waves. One of those lessons is confronting and conquering your fears. If his students are afraid of roller coasters he encourages them to ride one. It’s another lesson that will serve them well down the road.
He enjoys helping his students and gets great satisfaction from a smile and a thank you.
And if his student were to remember only one thing about him what would he like that to be?
Without hesitation he says, “That I cared about them. That’s what is important.”
Tampa Bay's 10 News