Teacher of the Month: Sarah Leidhold

ADAMS, Mass. — Hoosac Valley Elementary School kindergarten teacher Sarah Leidhold has been selected as the January Teacher of the Month. 

 

The Teacher of the Month series runs for the next four months in partnership with Berkshire Community College.

 

Leidhold has been teaching for nine years, but it wasn't the path she originally saw herself on. 

 

She had been told while growing up that she should pursue a career in teaching but did not feel confident to do so because of the disciplinary aspect. 

 

"I originally wanted to do writing, but I wasn't sure what I was going do with that. I tried occupational therapy but I was sitting in like anatomy classes, and it just wasn't my thing. So, I tried a teaching class, and I absolutely loved it," she said. 

 

Although she still wasn't sure if she wanted to teach, she soon fell in love with it while at Head Start, which unbeknownst to her was the start of a career filled with learning and evolving. 

 

"I just love the science of [teaching] and the way that I can make an impact on other people and luckily, I learned that relationships are actually the heart of the discipline part," Leidhold said.

 

"It's not necessarily being super strict, which is important to set boundaries, but creating connections and relationships with kids is what gives them the buy-in to come here every day and connect and be involved." 

 

It is that connection with the children that is her favorite part of teaching and is something she has mastered in her career. 

 

"Sarah's connection to students is one of her strengths. She is someone who gets to know every single one of her students, so that she can use the information she learns about them in her instructional practices," Hoosac Valley Elementary School Principal Erin Beaulac said.

 

She is able to take those relationships and applies it directly to the curriculum "to help them really understand the knowledge and skills that she's trying to teach them," Beaulac said. 

 

Leidhold earned her bachelor's degree in early childhood from Worcester State University and her master's from the University at Albany in New York. 

 

She worked at Head Start for five years during which she learned the importance of connecting with students and their families. 

 

Her first time at the early childhood program was nerve wracking, feeling almost like she had impostor syndrome, Leidhold said. 

 

She was unsure what she was doing but soon learned from her experiences there which she still brings into the classroom today. 

 

Head Start did home visits that allowed her to see where her students were coming from, gave her insight into the children's experience, and allowed her to connect with her students and families, Leidhold said. 

 

In 2020, Leidhold went to work at Hoosac Valley Elementary, where she has been for the last four years. 

 

"Sarah is one of those teachers who is willing to try a new strategy or a new idea, anytime of the day, if it's for the betterment of the students. So, she has become a natural leader in our building," Beaulac said. 

 

"She's on our instructional leadership team. She opens her classroom to anyone who wants to come in and observe her teaching, and she is always willing to listen to ideas, and to help her colleagues as well."

 

Her time at Hoosac Valley forced her evolve to the pandemic lifestyle from online learning to social distancing. She had to find creative ways to connect with her students through a screen. 

 

"That was really hard. I'm not going to sugarcoat that. That was challenging but I feel like it made me realize teaching can look different ways," Leidhold said. 

 

Although it was not what it was supposed to be, she still found ways to support meaningful connections.

 

"I had kids in here in rows of desks, and they couldn't touch each other. It felt impossible but we found ways, again, to connect to be meaningful," she said. 

 

Being able to help kids learn and connect in an environment like that helped her gain confidence and know that she can find ways to solve whatever problems are thrown in her direction, Leidhold said. 

 

"I love teaching kindergarten, because it's a really special opportunity that teachers have to be the bridge for kids. Some of my students have never been to school before. Some have been to preschool. So, we get a really unique opportunity to introduce school to them to make it fun and safe and special and like loving, so that when they continue school, they know that it's a place they can come and feel safe and loved," she said. 

 

"So I think that's one of the most unique and meaningful parts of kindergarten, you get to be that first, really school experience. And we do really hard work to make it special."

 

It is clear based on the number of nominations she received and the comments from her peers that during her tenure she has made a profound impact on her students and coworkers. 

 

She was nominated for our Teacher of the Month series by two parents who commented on her compassionate, "bubbly" and caring personality. 

 

"Ms. Sarah Leidhold is student centered, understanding, nurturing, and compassionate. She gets to know the individual strengths of each one of her students and capitalizes on them to build a learning community based on respect and honoring diversity," nominator Casandra Rochelo said. 

 

"She challenges them to do and be their best and allows them to make mistakes and provides lessons, so they are no longer mistakes but learning opportunities, honoring how hard it is to be 5."

 

Rochelo goes on to say that she " brings honesty and authenticity to a world that is full of filters and masks." She is hardworking, leads by example, and makes an impact on the families, students, and the administration.

 

These remarks were echoed by the second nominator Kari Richardson who said that she goes far and beyond for her students. 

 

"She is always very communicative with how her students are doing. She has a bubbly personality and always makes sure her students are succeeding," 

 

"We have been so blessed to have her as our son's teacher this year. Our community is so blessed to have such a loving and caring teacher who truly cares for each of her students."

 

This was further demonstrated in the classroom, with many of Leidhold's co workers and students expressing how her personality is reflected in the comfortable environment she creates in the classroom. 

 

Hoosac Valley Elementary School has a lot of social emotional curriculum, such as a responsive classroom, so they focus on their pupils individually by checking in on them and connecting with them while also referencing the rules, Leidhold said. 

 

"I'm also very attuned with the feelings in the room. We do a lot of pausing and breathing and so I think I'm very connections based and I do a lot of social-emotional pieces within teaching," she said.

 

These moments of taking a breather not only helps the students learn how to understand and manage their emotions but it also helps remind her coworkers to take a breather during the school day, one-on-one paraprofessional Charli Neep said. 

 

"Sarah is kind and she likes to incorporate that into her lessons. She teaches the kids how to control their emotions and kind of feel their feelings," paraprofessional Gina Gigliotti said. 

 

"So I think that that is really good for the community, because then the kids can go out into the world with what she's taught them."