Of course, there are thousands of reasons why Mrs. Leigh Anne Rohloff is Kent Prairie’s Simply Amazing staff member, and Kodan and Eloise easily enumerated most of them!

It begins with being kind and fair. Elosie is quite clear, saying, “I like that Ms. R doesn’t just yell at us, she gives us friendly warnings.” When kids in her class are caught doing something good, they get to move their clip up on the class chart, and that always feels good. Kodan agrees. “She’s not like a mean teacher. And she’s kind and doesn’t do anything mean or boss you around. Sometimes she doesn't even say anything and the class still knows what to do because she has taught us. I like how she’s not so, ‘You do this, you do that.’ She does it where it’s kind of simple. She tells you how to do it and it’s a little challenging. She gives you challenges.

Kodan and Eloise understand very well that traits like “kind” and “fair” are important. They also understand that they are here to learn, and Mrs. Rohloff is an outstanding teacher. They explained how science reports work in Mrs. R’s class. “We looked at an app that taught a bunch about animals, and we got to choose our own animals. I am writing about King Cobras,” Kodan shared. Eloise is writing about gila monsters. “At first I wanted to write about island cows. They are not called that… they are really shaggy.” (Charmingly, she meant ‘Highland Cows.’ The author was momentarily worried that she was woefully behind on what kinds of cows are around nowadays!). Everyone in our class is writing about a different animal.”

Math and reading are also teaching strengths for Mrs. Rohloff. “One of the math things she does is 3-D shapes, and there are a bunch of shapes we can learn about. It’s really fun to hear about it. And all the stuff she’s learned as a second-grade teacher this year. It’s her first year in second grade,” explained Kodan. “I like reading, too. There’s something called an AR goal, and if you get enough 100 percent scores, you get to watch a movie. I have already made my goal: 100!” Eloise has 143 points, and both kids love reading, thanks to Mrs. R.

Kodan said that his mom loves Mrs. R. “She doesn’t really do anything mean to me or the other classmates. She’s not too serious. There’s always something to start our morning, like a little dance or song. When we get back in school on Mondays we get to talk about our weekend and talk about our highs and lows, or what we are grateful for.

Surely Mrs. Rohloff is frequently listed among the reasons her students are grateful.