Third grade teacher Leah Porter of Holt, Michigan, has been named her state’s 2021-2022 Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Lansing State Journal.

I always enjoy sharing stories about outstanding educators who have earned recognition for their work in the classroom. One of these is Leah Porter, an elementary school teacher from Holt, Michigan. She has been named her state’s 2021-2022 Teacher of the Year.

Leah is teaching third grade at Wilcox Elementary School in Holt this year, but she spent the last 15 years teaching kindergarten. Her career as an educator has spanned a total of 16 years. Leah has served her school in a variety of roles over her tenure there, including serving as a Reading Recovery teacher, teacher leader, and interventionist.

Leah is best known for her ability to build relationships with her students, and to build an atmosphere of inclusion in her classroom. “In my greatest dreams, I see an educational system that allows each child the freedom to be themselves, to have security and trust in their learning spaces, and to be celebrated for all that they are,” declared Leah.

Leah said that she has dreamed of being since she was a little girl. About a decade ago, her mother even found an old childhood drawing she’d made of herself as a teacher, which now hangs in her classroom. Reflecting on why she chose to become an educator, Leah credited her childhood teachers from North Elementary School in Lansing, Michigan, who taught her to appreciate the learning community that school provides. “I loved thinking about how you could be creative (in the job) and have to work and be on your toes every second of the day,” she said. “For all the prep and things that you think teaching will be, it’s a thousand times better than all those things and a thousand times as challenging, too, simultaneously,” she continued.

Leah earned both her Bachelor’s degree in 2004 and her Master’s degree in 2009, both from Michigan State University College of Education.