KIMBERLY, Wis. (WFRV) -  October's Terrific Teacher comes thanks to a viewer named Ellie.

She says kids at Woodland Intermediate School in Kimberly love Mr. Looper and his "loopy" personality.

However he has a serious goal behind the fun.

"One of the biggest things in education is trying to get kids to feel comfortable with who you are" says Eric Vander Loop or "Mr. Looper". "If you make that connection with them then it makes that next step, getting them to learn even easier".  

"So often you are trying to get their attention to start and if you can transition out of that and teach then the magic happens" he says with a smile.

He has worn a turkey hat and shaved his head during and annual fundraiser to fight cancer.

"When they are happy and they go home and tell the stories and in the end they can say well I am still learning... Then you know as a teacher you have done what you are supposed to do" says Vander Loop.

He has spent 13 years making kids giggle and helping them apply lessons to the real world.

"They know it is not just about them. The world is not just how you look and who are. It is about what you give to everybody else" he says.

Empowering kids with a love of learning.

"You might not be the best math student in the world, but if you are happy to be at school and you are trying your best, no one can take that away from you" he says.

Mr. Looper's kids have helped raise more than $50,000 for the American Cancer Society, though the school's annual "Unless" campaign.