October Top Notch Teacher
LA CROSSE, Wis. — Entering Kindergarten can be a stressful time for many families, that is unless you have someone like Ms. Michele Klug as your teacher.
The teacher from SOTA 1 (School of Technology and Arts) sings, dances and does a lot more.
For Klug, every day is about being in the moment.
“When I come to school in the morning, I may have had some difficulties. or things go wrong at home, but I get here and I’m just enveloped with what’s happening with the kids and with the day.”
She’s taught for nearly 30 years, but it seems being an educator runs in the family.
“My mother was a teacher my grandmother was an elementary teacher, and I thought about the things I enjoyed and was interested in, and I found that I was able to combine all of those interests in the elementary education field,” Klug says. “I’m the oldest of right kids, so in a way I’ve always been a teacher even outside of school.”
Whether it’s name games and choo-choo trains, or a quick Spanish lesson, Klug seems to do it all and manages to inspire others at the same time.
2191034“I think it’s just the building of the relationship with children,” says Katherine Hess, Ms. Klug’s student teacher this semester. “She’s just so good at creating those bonds and relationships with the kids, and she’s just great. I’ve learned so many different skills and things that I’m looking forward to using when I become a teacher.”
“She just really takes the time to get to know each student and their families which meant a lot to me as a parent,” says Katie Jacobson, a mother of one of Ms. Klug’s former students.
And Ms. Klug’s made such an impact, it’s almost as if she’s a bit of a celebrity.
“You can tell in the hallway when they come and give her a hug and give her a hug when they leave and even the older kids who had her always say hello,” Hess says.
“There should be more teachers like her she’s a gift…she really is.”
But to Ms. Klug, she’s just one of them…a kid at heart.
“It’s not even like a job,” she says. “It’s more fun than work.”
One of Ms. Klug’s former student teachers, Jane Erickson, nominated her to be the October Top Notch Teacher.
Jane went on to become a teacher in the same district, and her daughter is now in Ms. Klug’s kindergarten class.
