SHOREWOOD, Wis. — "Ms. Kopplin is Wisconsin's 'Teacher of the Year!'" announced State Superintendent Jill Underly.
High-fives all around when Sarah Kopplin was presented the award in her 7th-grade classroom at Shorewood Intermediate School, where she teaches Social Studies: World Geography & Culture.
For Women's History Month, we show you what makes her Teacher of the Year. "Ms. Kopplin works really hard for her students to become informed and engaged global citizens," said State Superintendent Underly.
Kopplin hopes it puts a positive light on her career, "...and to talk about how committed our teachers are to our kids," she says.
8th grader Xyella Leka was a student of hers at Shorewood Intermediate, saying she "cultivated an environment where a lot of people specifically young women would be safe and really grow."
The Teacher of the Year shares why she makes it a point to include how women play a role in every culture, when teaching world geography. "To be able to examine our roles within different societies so when kids are looking at different global cultures or our own culture, what does that mean, what are the role of women in family life, in public life?" She adds, "Growing up, I felt like the only time I learned about a woman or a person of color was on a tiny little box in the corner of the page of a textbook maybe once a chapter."
"She shows your eyes, where to go, but she doesn't tell you what to see - that's something I really like about her," said 7th grader Ehsan Kalam, who admires how Mrs. Kopplin treats students of color in her classroom as well. "She really expresses culture and wants you to be proud of your own culture."
Even if a student has never been outside of Milwaukee County, these pins you see all over the world, show how far each shirt a student wore one day to class, traveled to get on their backs. Kopplin said they found, "Most shirts take about, go through, about 6 to 9 countries before they even get to our store shelf, and the kids were shocked."
"Just like really amazing and she inspires me to be better every day," said student Xyella Leka.
Which makes Mrs. Kopplin of Shorewood Intermediate School teacher of the year.
There were four other teachers across the state to be awarded Teacher of the Year. Click here to see all of their stories.
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