MISSOULA - Some teachers just know they’re born to be in a classroom and this week’s One Class at a Time grant winner knew she was a teacher at young age when she practiced giving spelling tests to her friends.
Lissa Olinger – who teaches everything from Social Studies and English to PE at Washington Middle School in Missoula -- is the type of teacher who wakes up ready to see what her middle schoolers need.
Because she cares so much about helping middle school students navigate their emotions, Olinger will use her $250 grant to buy flexible seating options, fidget spinners, pulse oximeters and other regulating tools.
By buying these tools, Olinger hopes she’ll help her students find that middle school isn’t as rough as we think it is, “I think our strongest memories [are] who you are.”
Olinger will be able to rotate the tools to all her different classes and as a native Montanan herself, she’s teaching local students to treasure the growing phase of life they’re in.