Lynn Thacker, a first-grade teacher at Mesa Verde Elementary School, strives to create lifelong learners in every student that passes through her classroom.
“I think if they know you care, they’ll go far,” she said.
Thacker’s teaching style is a 360-degree departure from how she was taught during her early school years. Thacker remembers a cold environment where she was told to “sit in rows, don’t talk, don’t do anything.” With this experience in mind, she chooses to engage with her students on a personal level and provides the space for open dialogue.
“Younger kids are so curious about anything,” she said. “I feel like you can get them excited about it if you’re excited about it.”
Thacker’s inclusive teaching style and genuine personality were recognized last month by Tucson Values Teachers, a collective of community members that celebrate K-12 teachers. Tucson Values Teachers awarded Thacker with the January Teacher Excellence Award.
Leslie Young, a parent to one of her students, had nominated Thacker for the award.
“Lynn Thacker has had my two older kids and now has my last. She is the most kind, caring, loving, sweet, attentive teacher you could have for your kids,” Young said in her nomination.
The award comes with $250, a $100 gift certificate to Jonathan’s Educational Resources, and flowers.
With her natural skill towards education, it may come as a surprise that Thacker wasn’t always a teacher. She’s been teaching for 15 years but started her career in accounting. She was the black sheep of her family at that time.
Thacker comes from a family of educators. Her father, mother, and sister are retired or are currently working as teachers.
“My dad kind of inspired me to do this because he was a professor,” she said.
Thacker recalls college students visiting her father’s office at Northern Arizona University and praising him. Her father’s relationship with his students would inform the relationships she builds with her students.
Thacker reminisced that “he just seemed to make a big difference.”
Now as an educator, Thacker thinks one of her biggest downfalls is that she can get too attached to her students. She eats lunch with different students once or twice a week and became incredibly close with students’ families last year when classes were moved online. Parents had to supervise their children during Zoom classes and Thacker said she got to connect more with last year’…….
Source: https://www.tucsonlocalmedia.com/explorewellness/article_61fb40f4-94c2-11ec-8e17-c78c2e42734e.html