While most teachers decorate their walls only with recent student work, encouraging posters and maybe a shelf or two, language arts teacher Nathan Willard goes the extra mile to be unique.

Upon a student’s entrance, they will first be struck by Lord of the Rings and Star Wars posters on the door.  If they go further they will notice band and movie posters covering all four walls with barely any white showing.

“I have collected posters over the years from concerts, conventions, stores and promotions.  Students have given me posters, too,” Willard said.

His drive for having such a decorated room comes from not wanting his room to look like all the other teacher’s rooms.  He wanted to make sure his room stood out.

“When I became a teacher, I wanted to make sure that my room didn’t have a lot of dead, white walls,” Willard said.

All of his posters, pictures, fliers, and postcards succeed in making his room stick out from the rest. 

“When I was in high school, the joke was that most class rooms had the fire evacuation procedure card, some other random school announcement or goal and if you were lucky, a picture of a kitten stuck in a tree with the phrase ‘hang in there’ written on it,” Willard said.

“I always thought, if I ever am a teacher, I am changing that.  Now that I am, I have gathered lots of stuff to make the room more interesting.”