Cora Menke

Tell us why you became a teacher

I became a teacher because I fell in love with education the moment I became a Kindergartner. The older I got, the more I began to love math and the challenges it presented in front of me.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

My most memorable teaching experience was when I had 18 seventh graders, in the fall their state test scores were mostly developing or average. In the spring, they grew so much that I only had maybe 3 of the 18 students at development or didn't improve much. Sharing the big news with them and how much they grew was the best part of the spring semester, and showing them that they are capable of a lot of great things!

What would you do with the $25,000?

I would save part of it for the rest of my savings for a down payment on a house, the rest of it would go towards paying off student loan debt. This amount of money would be life-changing for my growing family.