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Mauston educator to represent Wisconsin in national Teacher of the Year competition
Posted: 10/6/2009 1:09:36 PM
From the Kohl Educational Foundation and DPI
Leah Lechleiter-Luke of New Lisbon, a Spanish teacher at Mauston High School, will represent Wisconsin in the national Teacher of the Year program.
“As a dedicated, passionate, and involved teacher, her commitment to her school and the personal attention she gives her students truly makes a remarkable difference in our community,” said a former student in Lechleiter-Luke’s nomination materials. A statewide panel of educators, parents, and community leaders selected Lechleiter-Luke from among five Teachers of the Year named in early September. She was chosen for her superior ability to inspire a love of learning in students, her drive to motivate others, and her leadership and service within and outside the classroom.
“Leah Lechleiter-Luke has earned high praise from students, parents, and colleagues, making her an ideal candidate to represent Wisconsin in the national Teacher of the Year program,” said State Superintendent Tony Evers. In honor of her selection, the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation will award Lechleiter-Luke $6,000. She earlier received $3,000 from the foundation for being named the Wisconsin High School Teacher of the Year. Last spring as one of 100 Kohl Teacher Fellows, she received a $1,000 award. Through its various award programs, the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation has contributed millions of dollars to Wisconsin educators, students, and schools.
“Good teachers are so important in shaping our students’ education and preparing them for their future,” said U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl. “My support of the Teacher of the Year awards recognizes outstanding educators with the goal of ensuring that we have caring and competent teachers in our classrooms to grow the workers, leaders, and citizens of tomorrow.”
Prior to her service as the ninth- through 12th-grade Spanish teacher, Lechleiter-Luke was an English teacher at Mauston High School and taught English and Spanish at Brookwood Junior / Senior High School in the Norwalk-Ontario-Wilton School District. She earned her bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and a master’s degree in secondary education from Viterbo University in La Crosse.
Some of the best advice Lechleiter-Luke says she ever received was from one of her first students. “When I finished my student teaching assignment, I received a good-bye note scrawled in the sloppy handwriting of one of my boys in Remedial Grade 12 English.” The note said, “Just remember…we are not robots.” She credits remembering her students’ individualism with their academic and social success. The poem by Christopher Logue, “Come to the Edge,” summarizes her educational approach of leading students to the cliff-like edges of their comfort zones, then pushing them off and watching them discover the ability to fly. “Students cannot be led to the opportunity to fly, if they are treated as robots,” she said.
Lechleiter-Luke is described as a passionate and determined mentor for students at all levels of achievement. She has inspired a quadrupling in membership of the Key Club, which has won numerous awards for its community service projects. She also was pivotal in development of the Freshman Academy — a way of smoothing the transition into high school — with methods such as team teaching, integrated curriculum, and peer mentorship. Lechleiter-Luke helped found and co-directs the peer mentorship program at the school, Link Crew. She also helped design a new intensive study session for academically struggling freshman and sophomore students. The Guided Study program uses lower teacher-to-student ratios and other strategies to raise students’ grades; data supports the program’s success.
When she taught English, students in her classes made a goal of interviewing every local veteran and sending the video to Washington, D.C., as part of the Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress. The experience helped students hone their speaking, listening, and interviewing skills and has led to an ongoing increase in community involvement at the school.
Lechleiter-Luke is one of five Teachers of the Year chosen to represent Wisconsin’s PK-12 teaching corps for the 2009-10 school year. The others are Elementary Teachers of the Year JoAnn Lens, Hawley Environmental School, Milwaukee, and Maureen McGilligan-Bentin, Marquette Elementary School, Madison; Middle / Junior High School Teacher of the Year Rachel Rydzewski, Waunakee Community Middle School; and Special Services Teacher of the Year Kay Zastrow, special education teacher in the Green Bay Area School District.
“Our Teachers of the Year inspire their students and colleagues,” Evers said. “Leah Lechleiter-Luke represents the many dedicated educators who work each day to teach our students so they graduate ready for the workforce or further education.”