SARANAC, Mich. — Our newest Teacher of the Week is a busy woman. She has three children who all attend the same school where she works at Saranac Elementary School. Plus, she’s got another one on the way.
While at work, she’s helping students stay active.
Saranac Elementary had to get a little creative with the surprise for Tami Wernette.
Mike Catrell is the principal. He said, “Tami’s being a gym teacher is a little bit difficult. Kids are not always in her classroom. There’s always kids rotating in and out.”
When the 13 ON YOUR SIDE crews stopped by for the surprise, it was her prep hour, but the principal requested that she help cover a class.
“So, I’m walking down the hallway, and I looked in the room because I don’t want to interrupt the teaching and there’s this camera in there and I’m like ‘I guess I better wait,’” said Wernette, the Teacher of the Week.
In the video, you can see the students’ excitement as she arrives and their confusion when she doesn’t come in.
“And Mr. Catrell was like, ‘you can go in,’ I was like, ‘okay,’” said Wernette.
After the shock of the surprise wore off, she said, “I had no idea that I was nominated for this. It’s a huge honor. I’m very proud. I love Saranac. It’s a great community and I’m very blessed to be here. I feel very loved.”
“Just a ton of excitement. She’s a great teacher. Kids love her. Great choice,” said Catrell.
She told 13 ON YOUR SIDE that she’s always had a love for kids but did veer off slightly from her original plan.
“I initially was just elementary education and then I was taking some of those classes and I was like, ‘woah, this is intense,’ and so my love for athletics and movement and physical activity and health kind of drew me over to the PE major side,” said Wernette.
She’s now in her fifth year of teaching physical education at Saranac Elementary and said, “It’s a great way to interact with kids, get them moving, helping them understand that you can have fun while you’re being active and physical activity isn’t just something that you have to do.”
The principal added, “Keeping the kids active and physical and moving is super important. Connecting the brains to the body is a huge part of education. Tami does a great job of getting those kids moving, up and running and participating in class.”
“We try to play a lot of games to get warmed up and help them understand that movement can be fun and should be a part of their lives forever,” said Wernette.
The PE teacher said it’s a career that’s full of challenges and rewards.
“It can be draining when you give, and you give, and you give, and things don’t always go your way but when you see the reward on the other end, and you see students’ lives being changed that’s all the difference in the world that I need to know that I’m making an impact on these kids every day,” said Wernette.
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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