Despite her short time as a teacher, hard work has already resulted in Meghan Wilberger being named Teacher of the Year at Falling Creek Elementary School.
Wilberger, who has only been teaching for five years, said she was surprised by the honor.
Wilberger didn’t know what she wanted to do when she was
For her college internship, Wilberger worked with second-grade students and ended up falling in love with the grade, which she taught for four years. She received a master’s degree in reading and said she knew she eventually wanted to teach reading, which began doing during the last school year.
“I wanted to focus more on reading [for the master’s degree]because I knew that was something I had a difficult time with [when I was younger], and if I could help kids like me, that would be amazing,” Wilberger said.
She now teaches kindergarten through fifth grade.
“[In] kindergarten, they’re learning the basics of reading, which is really exciting [because]you see them get excited about learning new words and how to put those words into sentences,” Wilberger said.
In addition to teaching, Wilberger is a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art
Her favorite thing about teaching isn’t one specific “aha” moment, but a lot of little ones.
“As much as someone telling me they love to come to school, that’s worth it for me, [or]someone telling me, ‘I love reading now,’” Wilberger said. “Just little things along the way over the past five years have made me love my job and what I do.”
Wilberger sees herself teaching until retirement.
“The perfect day is when a light bulb switches for the kids, and they say ‘Oh, I got it,’” Wilberger said, or students “get” the word the class has been working on all week. “Then I know that I’m making a difference,” she said.
