CANYON HIGH TEACHER REWARDED WITH L.A. COUNTY HONOR WHO NEEDS MONEY? HISTORY GURU FINDS VALUE IN THE SUCCESS OF HIS STUDENTS.

CANYON COUNTRY - The son of a school teacher, Dennis Lynch understood that a career in teaching would not make him wealthy - but 37 years later, the veteran Canyon High history teacher is reaping rewards.

``Early on I realized I was not going to get rich from this. But the value of it is seeing the reward of your students succeed,'' said Lynch, who last week was named one of 12 Los Angeles County teachers of the year.

Lynch and his fellow honorees - selected from a pool of 61 teachers and chosen by colleagues across the county - will hold the title this school year and compete this fall in the state competition.

The former U.S. Marine has taught at Canyon for nearly 30 years and admits he has a good idea about how many of students would describe him.

``They usually say I was the hardest teacher they ever had but that they learned a lot,'' said the Valencia resident and father of two grown children. ``I'm a challenging teacher, and I try to maintain high standards, but not so high that they can't reach them.''

His college sweetheart and wife of 38 years said the honor came as little surprise to her.

``I don't want to sound arrogant, but I've always believed in him,'' said Linda. She and her husband will become grandparents in February. ``He loves what he does, and he cares so much about his students.''

Specializing in world and U.S. history, Lynch introduced the first Advanced Placement U.S. history course at Canyon in 1983 and still teaches it today.

He also serves as the school's Academic Decathlon adviser. The team earned 22 medals in competition last year.

Sophomore Kevin Cooper has only had Lynch for about four weeks, but the 14-year-old already sees something different in his history class.

``He doesn't really teach like any other teacher. There's like an amusing way he has, where you want to pay attention,'' Cooper said. ``He knows that the class is really hard, but he doesn't stress that everyone get A's. He wants us to learn.''

Classmate Raj Khalsa agreed, adding that Lynch's style of teaching has helped the sophomore in other academic subjects.

``He's like an English teacher and history teacher in one,'' Khalsa said. ``He gives assignments where we have to write an introductory paragraph. He takes the format of the English teachers, and he helps us understand.''

Despite his close relationship with many of his students, Lynch maintains a formality that reveals his decades of experience - they all call him Mr. Lynch.

``But that's just until they graduate,'' Lynch said, smiling. ``Then they can call me Uncle Denny. But only after they graduate.''

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(color) Canyon High history teacher Dennis Lynch gives pointers to students during his second-period AP history class.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News