LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Lottery has played a big role in funding education in our state, which is why it has teamed up with FOX 47 News to recognize excellent educators state-wide.
Heather LaMarra, is an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher at Weston Elementary is this week's Michigan Lottery Excellence in Education award winner.
LaMarra was nominated for the award by a family member.
“Heather LaMarra is a great ESL teacher. She works with kindergarteners through second graders. She teaches English to 90 children. Some of these students are monolingual. She makes them feel comfortable as many of them are new to the United States and new to American schools. Many students come back and thank her for her efforts. Teaching a language to children that young seems intimidating to me, but Heather loves the challenge. She constantly does professional development to get better at her craft. Despite being a teacher for 22 years, she is devoted to being a lifelong learner.”
LaMarra said the excitement and challenge of being an ESL teacher inspired her to pursue a career in education.
“My previous work as a social worker included working with children and teens in residential treatment facilities, foster care and in Wayne County as a delinquency worker. When I moved to Las Vegas they were in need of teachers who wanted to work with children and had a high population of students whose second language was English. I thought this would be an exciting and rewarding career change, so I decided to make a change and haven’t looked back. When you work with multilingual learners you get more of a chance to see the ‘lightbulb moments.’ You also develop a unique relationship with students since you usually teach them more than one year.”
Heather Lamarra was recognized with a $2,000 check from the Michigan Lottery!
Click here to watch the full interview
Want to see more Excellent Educators? Visit the FOX47News Website.
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