MINNEOLA, Fla. — A parent-nominated Karen Krawchuk for A+ teacher, saying that she's the reason for her students' success because she builds excitement and confidence in her Minneola Charter School kindergarten classroom in Minneola.
"It's just a wonderful age where they learn so much and they enjoy learning," Krawchuk says.
One step inside her classroom and visitors can see the warm glow of joy on full display as her students go to work to complete their assignments. Students get wrapped up in their lessons, and they enjoy collaborating.
"I just try to immerse them in the country that we're in. So we have done Brazil, Japan, France, Egypt, Australia and now we're in Mexico, and with each one of those, we spend a month learning about the different countries," Krawchuk says. "They learn how to say hello, goodbye and thank you (in that country's native language). They find it on the map; they learn about the country's flag; we have snacks from the country; they learn about games that they play."
Asked why she takes this approach with students so young. Krawchuk says, "I really decided to do this because I wanted to teach them about diversity and different cultures and acceptance of others and how being different is a wonderful thing."
Teaching kindergarteners for 24 years in Lake County, Krawchuk says the social skills her students learn are important, too. She points to the suggestions on her bulletin board and adds, "We have, 'Listen carefully. Do your best. Be helpful, not hurtful. Respect others and be proud of yourself.' "
She says the gains the students make over the school year are really inspiring.
"They come in, some of them can't even write their name, and they leave here reading, writing, doing addition and subtraction," Krawchuk says. "It's just an amazing 180 days of growth."