This year’s winner is Sophia Amendola a 4th grader from Jackson School who wrote the wining essay about her teacher, Lisa Michalski.
Here is the winning essay:
My Teacher is the Best…
My teacher is the best because Mrs Michalski isn’t just a teacher she is a role model. She is always making sure we are prepared for 5th grade and is always asking us, “who is responsible for your learning?” My favorite thing that she taught us that, “you need to go slow before you can go fast.” This means that if you are maybe having a hard time with math you will have to practice to be great. I know that I need to have a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset. Mrs Michalski is the best!
Student: Sophia Amendola
School: 4th grade, Jackson
Teacher: Lisa Michalski
“Sophia’s essay made the mark for showing real examples of applied learning from her teacher Mrs. Michalski,” said Dee Longfellow, editorial coordinator for the Elmhurst Independent who judges the contest. “The fact that Sophia values Mrs. Michalski’s messages like, ‘who is responsible for your learning?’ indicates that she’s not just hearing her teacher, but is heeding and understanding the message behind it. And Mrs. Michalski’s message that ‘you have to go slow before you can go fast,’ clearly reached Sophia’s understanding, as she knows it means that if she has a hard time, she has to practice until she gets better.
“That’s what I look for in these essays, not only what a teacher may say or teach in a lesson, but also how it got through to the student; that the student understood the message and did her best to do better.”
Congratulations to Sophia and to Mrs. Michalski, who will be the subject of an upcoming feature story in the Independent. In addition, Mrs. Michalski wins dinner for two at a restaurant of her choice in downtown Elmhurst.
