Marie Sander

Tell us why you became a teacher

I became a teacher to give back to students what my amazing teachers gave me. Passion, patience, excitement, and of course all of the hard work to get me where I am. I wanted to bring the fun back into education while also helping students navigate outside factors away from school. I also knew working with kids would just bring a smile to my face everyday. Everyone told me the pay wasn’t great but I didn’t care I get to work with kids!! I am forever thankful I chose this job.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

This is only my second year, but I will never forget my first class. We had so many laughs and just so many amazing lightbulb moments. I think something that will stick with me the most is the last day of school from last year. My kids were walking down the hallway ALL in tears yelling they didn’t want to leave. All of the staff was asking what I did to them (in a joking way) while it broke my heart seeing them cry I also had a realization of wow this is why I do what I do.

What would you do with the $25,000?

I would give my school some money to make an amazing sensory room. We have a lot of things in there for the students to do but I would love to give even more and get the walls professionally painted to be nice and calming. I would also give some money for our courtyard that we are doing in memory of a student who passed away this year. The rest of the money I would invest an amount into my classroom and then pay off some of my student loans with the rest!