St Joseph Catholic Teacher of the Week

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Students learn in different ways and it takes an observant and caring teacher to make sure all students in a classroom are a success. A 1st grade teacher at St. Joseph Catholic School does just that and she is our Teacher of the Week.

In Anne Marie Kirk's 1st grade class, the students are all very attentive and ready to get to work. On the day we visited her class, she handed each student a piece of paper with a wiggle drawn on it and asked the students to develop a story from that line. "Who has an idea to develop into the story," she asks the class. Immediately hands go up from the students. They are eager to give their ideas.

One student saw a wave in the ocean, another saw a mitten, and a another a dog. Mrs. Kirk has been teaching here for 17 years and her students and their parents love her. "I think she's a really good teacher to be teaching 1st grade," said 1st grader Jordan Mills.

His classmate, Madaline Krawchuk adds, "I really like to learn math from her and do lots of things with her."

Parents say Mrs. Kirk can spot the needs of each child early on and work with each child to help them learn. "Mrs. Kirk is an expert at learning her student's strengths and weaknesses and she doesn't hesitate to work with the parents and tell them what they ned to do to help their children be successful," said Principal Rhonda Rose.

Kirk has always taught 1st grade but says each year is a different journey. The children are different and their needs are different. "Even though I've done this for 17 years; this time of year it's fun to see how far they've come and it still surprises me."

The students in her class are all a success because of their teacher.... our Teacher of the Week.

©2009 First Coast News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, or redistributed.