Spanish teacher Jerry Turk is not only a great Spanish educator, but an inspiration to the community because of his passion for teaching and involvement in Key Club.

Jerry Turk, a Spanish teacher of 22 years, has been the adviser of Key Club for the last eight years.  Key Club is a service organization that does volunteer work such as reading to underprivileged kids and taking out recycling at school.

Speaking about Key Club, Turk said, “It’s beautiful, it’s the best thing I’ve done at Mayfield.”

The way Key Club affects the community and Mayfield High School is very important to Turk.  When the members of Key Club were raking leaves for the elderly, he knocked on the door of a former World War II lieutenant who couldn’t keep up with his yard work.

Turk said, “He actually broke down in tears right in front of me because he was so touched that these kids were doing that for him.”

What Key Club does not only affects the community but it affects Jerry Turk personally.  Turk said, “The key to life is affecting and changing other people.”

Turk’s passion is to help other people, and he hopes that what he does can inspire his students to do the same. Turk said, “That’s my passion and I hope that these kids will see that and catch on and realize that true education is not what you get from a book or in a classroom but it is seeing how you can make a difference in someone’s life.”

Along with his involvement in Key Club, Turk continues to pursue his passion of changing people’s life in the classroom.  Turk pushes his students to learn Spanish because of its ability to make connections across the world and improve future careers.  As Turk said, “You will never be unemployed if you have a college degree and can speak Spanish.”

When someone is down, and needs someone to help them up, Jerry Turk is always there.  Junior Asif Uddin has participated in Turks’ class in previous years and has witnessed how Turk can affect his students in the classroom.  Uddin said, “There have been times where I have had trouble with a certain unit in class, and Mr. Turk would always take time out of his day to help me if I needed it.”

Although he could have taken the path of wealth, Turk decided to become a teacher because he loves the kids.  Turk said, “It’s all about the kids. It’s all about helping you guys…I’m wealthy in so many better ways than money.”

A former student of Turk’s, Shahed Eid, could see Turks’ passion in the classroom.  Eid said, “What makes Mr. Turk a good teacher is that he cares about his students and cares about their success, and he will stop at nothing in order for a student to reach their potential.”

What makes Jerry Turk different from your average Spanish teacher is not how well he knows Spanish, but what he does to affect the lives of both his students and everybody around him.