His quiet demeanor and calm personality discreetly hides how much of a fighter Ben Unander is. Mr. Unander, Special Education Teacher at Urbana High School, is a champion for his students. Mr. Unander relentlessly pushes to ensure his students are successful and defines success for his students as reaching a level of understanding. Ben’s goal as an educator is to help his students establish processes to academically, socially, and emotionally overcome adversity, recover from setbacks, comprehend how they learn best, always ask the right questions, and have the courage to seek information. Mr. Unander wants his students to know circumstances are not always ideal, but their lives can be as beneficial as they make it. Mr. Unander grew up in San Antonio, Texas as one of six adopted children. His dad was a flight instructor in the Air Force and flew T-38 jets. He moved from Texas to Illinois with his family at the age of eight. Although Mr. Unander has lived in Illinois the majority of his life, fond memories of his community in Texas is reflected in the welcoming environment Mr. Unander has created in his classroom.

 “I have been there. I was in that same boat of distraction as a teenager.”

In his third year at UHS amidst the impersonal nature of remote learning, Mr. Unander maintains a fervor for connecting with his students by holding personal zoom sessions as needed, through study groups, and consistent communication and efforts to build a cooperative team atmosphere with parents, students and other teachers. His passion for building relationships with his students is rooted in his personal experience. As his students are trying to navigate the terrain of adolescence, Mr. Unander provides perspective from a place of empathy. When outlining his experiences as a high school student, he shared, “I was socially awkward at the best of times.” Recalling difficult moments like not making the basketball team, or being excluded from activities Mr. Unander explained, “I have been there. I was in the same boat of distraction as a teenager.  I know what it is to worry about having friends and navigating the social terrain, and just trying to survive.” It is from this point of identification that Mr. Unander is able to break down communication barriers and tap into significant levels of engagement with his students. One of his greatest strengths as an educator is his ability to connect with his students. Those connections in Mr. Unander’s opinion “Are the catalyst to students being able to feel secure enough to make mistakes on their way to developing competency.” 

The journey to becoming a teacher however was not an easy one. Mr. Unander attended Western Illinois University and completed nearly all of the requirements to earn his teaching certificate before falling short at the student teaching phase of the program. He was determined that no matter what, he was going to be a teacher.  He simply refused to quit.  Mr. Unander’s familiarity with setbacks is another tool he uses to help students persevere past moments of frustration. He shares how he too had to learn to see failure not as an endpoint, but the process of learning how to succeed in order to earn his teaching certification from the University of Illinois Springfield. Mr. Unander empowers his students, “I want my students to be driven with being successful, having no fear of what people think about them and to see failure as part of the process that serves to ultimately test how bad you really want something.”

In addition to the joy Mr. Unander gets from assisting students, he is also happy to be associated with colleagues he sees as family. “I can go to any given teacher for advice or feedback and get an answer.” It is not just the professional support that Mr. Unander appreciates, it is the personal relationships I have been fortunate to build.” Life has not and will not keep Mr. Unander down. He continues to face each as if he is Rocky Balboa, which is fitting because his dedication to students truly makes him the “Eye of the TIGERS!”