I often forget....

I often forget as an educator that the ideas and skills that we work on over the course of a semester or a few years with a student does make a difference. As educators, we send students out into the world hoping that we make a difference in our students' lives, but may never find out if this is true. Furthermore, most of the time, our students may not realize that their skills have been improved until several years later and in some cases, never at all. Yet, sometimes, our students do realize and these are the moments that we live for as educators! I am not in education to make money; I am in education to changes lives. When these moments happen, all of the sacrifice and hard work makes it worth it. Here is one of these moments:

Hey there teacher! I know it's been a long time since you graded my papers and speeches, but I wanted you to know I just finished my MBA!!! Thanks for all your encouragement during my undergrad. You set me up for success, several teachers commented on how well I wrote! Hope all is well with you! Thanks again!

I did not know I could influence the education of a 1st grader!

I received an email this week that made me smile! Check out the email below from one of my former speech students:

I have a great story that I think you will love! I went to pick up my 6 yr old boy from school the other day, and his teacher went on and on about what a great job he did sharing his story about fire in front of the class. I asked him in the car if he gave it like a speech?  He said, "well, yeah."  Hahaha? He picked up on how to give a presentation/speech from constantly being my "audience"! 

I know you can be proud that what you taught me ended up getting past down to a 1st grader :) I thought it was too cute not to share with you :)

Talented student graduates....

One of the best students I have ever had in my classes was featured in an article in the local paper and was featured in a WTCS presse release.  She did an excellent job of representing the college and herself in the article. 

Click here to read the WTCS Press Release or you can read her article in the WI Rapids Daily Tribune.

Radio Commerical

One of the best students in my speech class currently, recorded a radio commerical for the bank she works for.  One of her classmates said, "Hey, was that YOUR voice on the radio?" and she said yes.  Then she stated to me that the radio producer said that she should thank her teacher for doing such a great job of training her. He stated that in all the years he has been working my student was the first one to ever pretend she had an audience in front of her when speaking! Awesome!

At the MSTC Mock Trial

On the day of our annual MSTC Mock Trial, one of my students approached me and stated he was so glad that he had taken Speech with me.  I said, "Why?" He then said he felt much more confident and less nervous than he would have been if he had not taken speech.  He thanked me! I was shocked and happy all in the same breath.

Just another shinning moment in education....

My student's Speech Goes Viral

My student's speech goes viral! I am so proud of her achievements and the great speech she gave!  As her speech teacher, I could not have been more ecstatic about the wonderful speech she gave!!

Ambassador Award...

The Mid-State Technical College District just completed the process of naming the MSTC District Wide Ambassador. Erin was selected Stevens Point Campus Ambassador was then chosen as the District Wide Ambassador. Erin was nominated by Ms. Soczka Kaiser, Communication Instructor.

In her nomination Kelly stated, “Erin's work in my course was nothing less than outstanding. She continually worked on each speech assignment with vigor and determination to complete the assignment to the absolute best of her abilities……Her confidence was contagious and other students quickly gravitated towards her. The nominee excelled when working in a team environment and exhibited tremendous leadership potential. She does an outstanding job of listening to other team members’ opinions, as well as strategically voicing her own ideas….Erin’s superior work ethic was not only noticed by myself, but was immediately identified by many other instructors on campus. Erin is an intelligent, confident, collaborator who I wholeheartedly recommend as a worthy recipient of this award.”