GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — She’s been teaching for the last three decades and is now teaching some of the children of her former students. That’s just one reason this next educator was selected as our Teacher of the Week. We surprised Colleen Anderson with the news at All Saints Academy in Grand Rapids.
She started teaching 35 years ago in the same building, known as Blessed Sacrament back then. Today, it’s the All Saints Academy.
All Saints Academy principal, Michael Debri, says Anderson is “forming Saints to go out and make a difference in the world and giving those important foundations to those young students.”
“I love it. I love preschool, bringing them the love of learning,” said Anderson.
Now, her former students are bringing their children to Mrs. Anderson’s classroom.
She tells 13 ON YOUR SIDE, “Not only did I get to share so much with them but then when they bring their students in, as well, I get to see that family and how they’ve grown and how important this school is to them that they would bring them back here. So, I love it. I get to see where they went from when they were five. That’s pretty amazing.”
“She has been really a staple in the All Saints Academy for so many years. She’s taught two of my own children,” said Principal Debri, so excited for Anderson that he “couldn’t wait to see the surprise on her face and the excitement and joy in the other students.”
“Ever since I was a kid, I really like – I babysat everybody in the neighborhood. I just knew being around kids was something I wanted to do,” said Anderson, who’s been shaping the lives of students over generations.
“How lucky am I to be with all these kids? I mean, ASA kids are the best, right,” asked Anderson, as the students cheered on.
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