Schools
Laura Luikart: Teacher Spotlight
Luikart, a teacher at the Mary L. Evans Early Childhood Center, earned this month's Educator of the Month award through the Chamber of Commerce, Westfield Bank and Washington Square Starbucks
Laura Luikart got a pleasant surprise as she worked with her kindergarten students Monday morning at the . Representatives from the , Westfield Bank and the dropped in to honor her with the December Educator of the Month Award.
North Canton Patch got a chance to talk to Luikart from inside her classroom Monday to dig up these five things you might not have known about her.
Name: Laura Luikart
Hometown: North Canton
Family: Husband Ron; son Paul (wife Emily) Luikart; daughter Sara (husband Ryan) Keener; and grandchildren Imogen, Hope, Elly, Jack and Nora.
Education: Fairview High School, 1966; degrees in elementary education and special education from Bowling Green University, 1970.
North Canton Patch: How did you get into teaching?
Laura Luikart: I’ve always taught. I’ve been teaching since I was 11 years old. It just was right. I was helping (teach Sunday school) at 11 years old and teaching classes probably at 14.
North Canton Patch: These kids look up to their teachers as role models. If you had to say who you look up to, or who you find inspiration in, who would that be?
Luikart: I had a Sunday school teacher, Mrs. Hinson. I had several teachers in high school and elementary school, but I can remember she was the one I taught with when I first started teaching Sunday school. [Luikart added that she looked up to Hinson because of her kindness.]
North Canton Patch: What do you think makes a great teacher?
Luikart: Patience. For elementary age, patience. And you have to really know the students’ needs. The way things are, they are all doing different things at the same time. I think you need to know them individually, what they need academically and emotionally.
North Canton Patch: What do you love most about teaching?
Luikart: I love the children. I love watching that light bulb go on when they’re learning something new, and they know that they know it. They change so much this kindergarten year — from these babies to these kids who are so independent by the end of the year.
North Canton Patch: What’s your most memorable teaching moment?
Luikart: I think it was the first year I taught, I was teaching special ed, and outside Bowling Green there were migrant workers who had settled. And this little girl fought me every day, sometimes physically, she just fought me every day, and the last day of school she hugged me and said “I love you.” There have been a lot of moments similar to that, but I was that young, new teacher then.
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About the award:
The North Canton Area Chamber/Westfield Bank monthly “Educator of the Month” award honors a North Canton City Schools staff member who exemplifies excellence in education in their interaction with students, parents and other staff members.
Find out what's happening in North Cantonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
During the course of the 2011-2012 award cycle one person from each of the district’s seven buildings will be honored. The Chamber has partnered with Westfield Bank and the on the project. Each monthly winner will receive a plaque and a Starbucks gift basket, which includes a copy of CEO Howard Schultz’ "Onward" book. Schultz initiated Starbucks’ “Empowering Educators” program to highlight educators and school systems making a difference in the lives of their students and communities.
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