Leslie Greer

Tell us why you became a teacher

My desires to be a teacher was a later in life decision. My daughter struggled in school, I worked with her until she graduated and went off to college. Watching her struggle and the way teachers treated her, I knew I could be an advocate for other children with needs. I set my goals on becoming a reading teacher and work with students that may have dyslexia or other reading impairments. I am teaching first grade and my current and past students get the best reading instruction from me.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

A memorable teaching experience was a first grader had been working on reading and struggled, started to become discouraged when all of a sudden on a January morning she began reading like she had done it her whole life. She was so proud of her self she insisted on calling her mom and reading a page. She kept repeating " I got it, I can read, I can do anything". It made me bubble with pride that all the work we had done together had paid off. She went onto be our 2025 Valedictorian.

What would you do with the $25,000?

I would definitely put it towards helping new teachers to organize their classrooms, I would buy a year supply of snacks for students. I would create a "Treat Trolly filled with chocolate, salty snacks and drinks" for teachers. With a portion I would pay on my student loans and pay off my car.