Congratulations to NBCT Lauren Roberts recipient of The Evergreen State College's 2019 K-12 Distinguished Educator. Lauren currently teaches 2nd Grade at Peter G. Schmidt Elementary in Tumwater School District. We recently had a chance to catch up with Lauren and ask a few questions about her leadership journey.

 

1) You have had a busy year presenting at Leadership Labs and being selected for this honor. Tell us about your leadership journey.

 

I've always said that I love my job as a teacher and I could never imagine wanting anything different. Over the last few years, however, I found that I can still do all the things I love as a classroom teacher, but my reach does not have to stop at my classroom or my school's doors. After becoming Danielson certified I discovered that I really enjoy learning about what good teaching looks like, and I'm excited to be working with some really great teachers as we share with our staff, our district, and at the Leadership Labs. I'm eager to see where this journey takes me. I was inspired at the WATAC conference to keep pursuing this new journey.

 

2) You had started the Kindness Challenge: Give Back Project in 2014-2015. Can you tell us how the campaign started and how it has impacted your school?

 

I taught for six years at Littlerock Elementary School and each year I taught my students how to Irish Dance for the talent show. It became a piece of that community and built a lot of relationships that I hadn't expected. When I moved to Peter G. Schmidt in 2013 I decided to forgo the dancing, but wanted something meaningful and lasting that my students could remember for years to come. I was inspired by a former teacher at Littlerock who did a small project called "The Joseph Project" named after a small act of kindness by a student in his class, who happened to be one of my former students. I decided that I could take this idea and turn it into something that would allow my students to begin looking outside their 2nd grade lens, and that would also help our community.

 

In this project, each student is given a single five dollar bill. This money originally was donated by Capital Family Dentistry, but now is donated by my parents. With this five dollars students decide how they can give back to their community in some way. There are two requirements. The first is that students cannot give this money to someone in their immediate family. The second is that they must be safe during each step of the process: Safe with handling the money, and safe in the process of donating the money. I encourage the kids to be creative, find something important to them, and give back to their community. Perhaps they might even find a way to turn their $5 into more money to donate.

 

One student, whose mother has MS, raised money for the MS Society. This student receives special education services in math, reading, and writing, and was able to write a four paragraph essay, read it in front of a group of his peers, parents, and other community members, and make nearly every audience member teary. It was so incredibly powerful. He slept with the thank you note the MS society sent to him for days.

 

Over the years I have had students donate money to many different organizations, which has a direct impact on our community, but the changes that I get to see in my students and in their families are what keep this project going. I've been at Peter G. long enough now that I've had families do this project more than once with their different children, and it's really quite amazing to watch the journey they take as a family. It's this project that my former students and their families remember and talk about with me years later.

 

3) What tips or tricks do you have for fellow educators who want to take the next step in their leadership journey?

 

Leadership doesn't need to start big. Taking on smaller roles in your PLCs or in your school is a way to build confidence, relationships, and respect. Once these are established doors open for other leadership opportunities. I think opportunities opened for me because I jump into any project or need our school presents and run with it. I am in charge of our talent show, have facilitated many school-wide art projects, created a memory wall in our new school, help at our parent pick up area, join committees, have been on the site learning council, and present at staff meetings. All of these and more round out who I am and how I am received by my coworkers. A leadership journey starts by opening your classroom door and identifying where you can make your school a better place for students, staff, and families.