Learning Expressions: July 2011

Earlier this year, Learning Express launched the My-Wonderful-Teacher Essay Contest, open to kids in grades K – 8. We asked them to describe what makes their teacher extra-special and wonderful. The entries are in, and while we won’t know who the winners are until next month, we thought we’d share a few of them with you.

Three winners (one from each age group) will be selected by a panel of teachers based on their writing, grammar, originality, and creativity. Thanks to the generosity of the sponsor, Educational Insights, they will each win a $200 shopping spree to Learning Express and a Classroom Jeopardy set for their teacher.

Here are some excerpts from the K – 2nd graders. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

My teacher is the best teacher in Hillsborough County. Her name is Rosemary Fowler![…] What makes Mrs. Fowler so wonderful, is she encourages me to read more books. Just by having her as a teacher, I’m on the fourth Harry Potter book, and I’m going to third grade! Also I got more Accelerated Reader (AR) points this year than last year. (You get AR points by reading books.) Last year I had 73 AR points, but in Mrs. Fowler’s class, I had 272 points. And guess what? My whole class made the AR picnic. We’re the first class in the history of our school to do that!
(Alexcis, 2nd Grade)

My teacher is the best teacher because he plays the guitar. His name is Mr. Sechelski. His problem of the days are pretty hard. Close to the end of the year he does battle of the books. When people in my class ask him how old he is he says he is as old as dirt. There is this thing called the stick in my class. [A picture of "the stick" is below!] If you are good all week you get a prize. I have gotten a lot of prizes this year! He gives guitar lessons. I wish I could have him next year but I am going to [ ] Elementary School. This is why my teacher is so wonderful!
(Matthew, 1st Grade)

My teacher is Mrs. Wagner. She is nice. She only yells when it’s time to yell. She sets up centers for us to learn. My favorite is the art table. We made boxes for our books we read. I love Mrs. Wagner.
(Ryan, Kindergarten)

My 2nd grade teacher’s name was Millicent Fisher. One thing I really liked about Mrs. Fisher was that whenever another teacher entered the room Mrs. Fisher did funny dances and said: “Let’s have a party!!!” I thought it was hilarious when she did that because most teachers don’t have such a great sense of humor.
For our science units Mrs. Fisher let us do really cool stuff like raising butterflies for our life cycles unit, going to a gravel pit for our rocks and minerals unit, and making instruments out of household items for our sound unit. It’s really fun studying stuff with Mrs. Fisher because for almost every science unit you go on a field trip somewhere. It makes you really interested in learning about science because you don’t know where you’re going to go next and it makes you feel really excited knowing that you’re probably going to go somewhere.
(Laura, 2nd Grade)

Mrs. Zimmer is an extra-special teacher! First, she always comes to school with a smile and positive attitude. Next, she is very passionate and takes her time explaining new things in a fun way. Last, she makes reading and writing fun by asking questions and cheering me on to do my best. In conclusion, Mrs. Zimmer is an extra-special teacher.
(Taylor, Kindergarten)

In my class our teacher has a jar that she puts marbles in every time we do something good. When the jar is full, we get a party! Keep reading to learn more about my teacher. One time we had our own candy store in our classroom to help us learn about money. My teacher is the best because she reads us funny stories and she has two kids. She often tells us stories about them too. My teacher almost never yells at us. Instead she just asks us to be quiet. Her name is Mrs. Huffman. Mrs. Huffman always helps us when we have questions and listens to our stories. That is why my teacher is the best!
(Hannah, 2nd Grade)

My teacher is wonderful. She taught me how to read gigantic words. She took me on very fun field trips too. She did really cool experiments with me. We made a lot of projects. When my tooth was loose she pulled it out with a paper towel. Her name is Mrs. White.
(Peyton, Kindergarten)

Thanks for reading!

Every year Learning Express holds a company convention where all our franchisees (the local store owners you know and love) can meet with the top toy manufacturers and place their orders for the fourth quarter. It’s an event that shapes the holiday season for us, and this year we came together in sunny Jacksonville, Florida.

At the end of the vendor expo portion of the convention, many manufacturers prefer not to ship their product back to their warehouse. So each year, we select a small, local charity to be the recipient of the product. This year, that organization was called Daniel.

There are many, many things that make me proud to be part of the Learning Express family, but watching so many of our vendors pile up their product at the close of our convention last week was something really special.

Established in 1884, Daniel has spent more than a hundred years meeting the physical and emotional needs of children. It is considered Florida’s oldest child-serving agency. Originally founded as an orphanage (pictured right), and later named after James Jaquelin Daniel, Daniel has evolved into a multi-service agency that assists troubled youth and their families with a variety of innovative and nationally recognized programs.

These efforts include providing therapeutic foster homes for abused children, independent living services for homeless adolescents, intervention services for adolescents on the path of juvenile delinquency, and much more. To find out more, you can visit www.danielkids.org.

Here are some photos of the Learning Express home office staff boxing up the donated product for Daniel. We’d like to send out a HUGE thank you to all our vendors who donated their toys for the cause. We’re so thankful to have the opportunity to make a difference.