Courtney Hess

COURTNEY HESS  
CGCSC TEACHER OF THE YEAR
Sugar Grove Elementary School
KINDERGARTEN
15 Years of Teaching; 8 Years at Center Grove 

To me, teaching is important because...
Teaching is important because it is the pathway to every other avenue in life. On top of that, I get to be my students’ safe person that shows up for them each and every day for that school year and beyond. As an educator, it is our job to meet the social, emotional, behavioral, and academic needs of all students. Teaching is not for the faint of heart and takes so much time, patience, empathy, understanding, and work. Some of my students’ sweet, sweet souls have already endured the unimaginable at such a young age and so many of our students are suffering in silence. To me, the best teachers come through my classroom door each day, my students. When we take the time as educators to listen and learn from our students, we become the adults and teachers they need. It is my belief that ALL students can learn the skills they need to succeed in life. Once felt-safety, healthy connections, and relationships have been formed, students’ brains can then learn new skills, think about the cause and effect of their choices, and give their best effort in academics. Teaching is not just about teaching academic skills. Life throws so much at us and it is our job to teach students all of the academic and content skills, but also resilience, empathy, regulation strategies, what healthy relationships look like, how to compromise, that they are important and have a voice, and the list goes on.