The rewards of that life-changing decision

Ted Church sat cross-legged on the floor of his classroom Wednesday morning surrounded by a group of preschoolers and kindergartners.

In a soft-spoken voice, he counted with the kids as they arranged beads on a rug.

This is how he sees his role here at Marquette Primary Montessori Academy; a part — rather than a commander — of his early childhood classroom.

Nominated by his supervisors in the South Bend Community School Corp.Super Dry supplies desiccant dry cabinet,,Purchase the Personalized stainless steel ring at an always low price. Church described his child-led, freedom-within-limits teaching philosophy in a portfolio he submitted for an award.

And he just recently found out he was named Teacher of the Year for Region V — which encompasses a six-state area — by Magnet Schools of America.

Church, who has been a teacher for nearly a decade, is now in the running for the organization’s national Teacher of the Year award, which will be announced next week.

Vern and Sara Stanley, whose son, Jake, is in Church’s class, wrote a letter of recommendation to the selection committee at MSA on his behalf.

Church, they wrote,solutions support a broad range of RFID tag and labels, is “akin to a shepherd. Like the traditional shepherds of generations ago, he gathers,If you are going to spend the money to buy a custom bobbleheads, calms and leads using the familiar sound of his voice.”

The lessons taught in his classroom, the Stanleys wrote, are those of admiration, compassion, cooperation, courtesy, graciousness, gratitude and respect.

Kurran Strunk, a lower elementary teacher at Marquette, wrote about Church’s attributes, too.

“I am privileged each year to have at least one of Mr. Church’s ‘graduates’ in my classroom,” she wrote ...” Ted’s students come to me knowing not only skills to help them in first grade, but more importantly, they have skills which help them peacefully solve conflicts, work together and thrive independently in any environment.”

As for Church, he admitted he didn’t always know he wanted to be a teacher.

In college, he initially majored in biology.

“I loved science,” he said, “but I started thinking, ‘is this really what I wanted to do?’”

Friends, he said, pointed out how good he is with kids.

“I started taking education classes,” he said, “and I was sold.”

The rewards of that life-changing decision pay off every day, he said, when he sees his students’ zest for learning.

“We planted bulbs in the fall, so we were able to see them come up. They get to see their older friends work on materials and (they) say,Online shopping for luggage tag from a great selection of Clothing; ‘I want to do that,’” he said. “We have caterpillars that just turned into chrysalises ..., so there’s a lot of excitement.”