A well deserved recognition!

Just a short blog post to recognize our daughter Sasha.

She was nominated for OUTSTANDING ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL in her area. Among all of the nominations, she was selected!!

OUTSTANDING ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL by the Missouri Association of Elementary School Principals for Clay-Platte counties.

Her nomination will go to the state level in March.

Sasha Brooke Erwin Kalis

We are so proud of her! She talks frequently about her journey and what led her to be an educator. She credits her outstanding elementary school experiences as a leading factor for her career choice. She attended Emerson Open Magnet in Wichita Kansas. We applied to Emerson because of it's innovative teaching strategies and also because they mirrored the demographics of the city of Wichita. This meant that she attended school with a diverse group of children from all racial and ethnic backgrounds. What a great experience it was! Not only did she have great teachers, but the entire staff were stellar. The school made the students responsible for their education, keeping them motivated and encouraging positive behavior, study skills and creativity. Today, she continues to keep in touch with many of her Emerson teachers! The students referred to their teachers by their first names, they created their own goals and kept track of their own progress. They attended Kindergarten all day, way before other schools thought that practice was acceptable. They were exposed to the Spanish language, Jewish traditions and computers in Kindergarten (that was 1985!) The staff who stand out to us the most are: Stella, Vicki, JP, Susan, Nancy, Priscilla, Alice, Mo, to name a few.

Then, we moved to a small town just north of Wichita when she began middle school. As parents, it was difficult to watch her educational experience decline. I won't go into detail but the following was pretty much how the schools operated:

I remember vividly attending her senior school-wide High School honors recognition program. She earned honor awards for journalism with an outstanding journalism teacher. Later in the ceremony, all students who were graduating with honors were on the stage. (Sasha was not graduating with honors.) The High School Counselor began speaking about how the 12-14 students on the stage were the next leaders. She said these students were the ones to watch and they alone were the ones who were going to go places and succeed in the future. Meanwhile, all the other students and parents sat in the audience listening to these unfounded, inaccurate, and misguided words. Now, 21 years later, it is amazing how those words were so incredibly far from what actually happened.

Sasha has always had a propensity for teaching and education. In college she she was challenged because her high school education did not prepared her for college. She was determined and worked very hard to excel. She changed her major a couple times but kept going back to education. She excelled in her education classes. She loved the challenge of finding what works for each student. She enjoyed studying curriculum and strategies. She understands the critical role a teacher plays in a students education. She knows how important it is for students to have great educators in their life.

I remember one funny experience she had when she was a student teacher in a 5th grade classroom in Manhattan Kansas. There was a fire drill and everyone was filing out of the building. She got a tap on her shoulder and a teacher said, "You need to get back in line!". The teacher thought she was a student because she was shorter than the students!

Sasha continued her education and completed not only her Masters degree in Education from  Kansas State University, but also completed her Education Specialist degree through the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Sasha was an elementary teacher in both Junction City Kansas and then Parkhill School District in Missouri for 9 years. She has been an Assistant Principal for 6 years.

Good job Sasha! You have worked hard for many years while juggling many other parts of your life. We love you!