EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) – A second grade teacher celebrating her 25th year at Locust Lane Elementary School in Eau Claire is recognized as their 2020-21 Golden Apple Award winner. Congratulations to Melissa Pritchard for more than a quarter century of service to the Eau Claire Area School District. Melissa says building relationships with students is something that is stressed throughout the school.
Pritchard says, “Really I think that it’s the kids and the people and like I said just those relationships with them, getting to know them, that’s just a big part of who I am. Yeah, that’s really rewarding for me. And I think when you have that relationship with the kids you really get further with them with their learning, they trust you. All of us at Locust Lane really work hard, we’re a big family.”
Locust Lane Teacher on Special Assignment, Khoua Vang adds, “She is a mentor and a leader in the classroom and the building. One thing that Melissa or Mrs. Pritchard does really well is that she’s really good at just building a respectful learning community with her kids, anybody can walk into her classroom and feel that positivity. She’s just wonderful and caring for the social and emotional learning of her students and that’s just very paramount to students success, especially in this kind of school year.”
Pritchard and Locust Lane will each receive five hundred dollars from the Eau Claire Public Schools Foundation to use for educational purposes.
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