MUSKEGON COUNTY, Mich. — It isn’t always easy pulling off the 13 ON YOUR SIDE Teacher of the Week surprise. Thankfully, we pulled it off yet again. This time, we stopped by Twin Lake Elementary School.
“Um, I couldn’t believe it,” said Rosemary Olsen, a longtime teacher at Twin Lake Elementary School.
The surprise had her in disbelief, initially thinking, “That’s not for me. Yes, Mrs. Olsen, that’s for you,” she said.
Principal Paul Siembida said, “It all worked out very well. It took her a second to figure it out. She was like, ‘What is going on.’”
“Now that I look back on it, I had two teacher friends stop to ask me questions before I made my way down to the gym this morning,” said Olsen.
That was, “So that we would make sure she wouldn’t walk in too early,” explained Siembida.
Olsen shared how “This is my 29th year of teaching. I’ve taught every grade from kindergarten all the way up to sixth grade.”
“She was actually my second-grade teacher in this building,” said Racheal Carballido, Olsen’s former student who now works as a guest teacher at Twin Lake Elementary.
Carballido said Olsen wasn’t just her teacher, but, “She was my favorite teacher because she was the nicest and she was just so sweet.”
“It just felt natural to me and I just thought that I could make an impact on children forever if I went into teaching,” said Olsen, explaining why she got into teaching.
“This is one of the hardest professions there is out there. It is extremely difficult and the teachers who do it great, it’s almost a daily miracle,” said Siembida.
When it comes to recruiting new teachers, Olsen says, “One way to get new teachers involved is to honor and respect current teachers and show students and families how important we are what impacts we do make on the world.”
Being chosen as Teacher of the Week for Olsen was a big honor. She said, “I’ve seen other teachers in the past get this award and thought it was awesome for them. It’s the best compliment I couldn’t ever gotten.”
If you have someone you’d like to nominate as our next Teacher of the Week, just text the word “teacher” to 616-559-1310.
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