It was spring break, and Laura Kerbaugh wanted to surprise second grader Zoey Snyder at her BMX bike race in South Carolina. At first, Kerbaugh felt nervous, but when Zoey saw that her beloved teacher had come to cheer her on, time stopped. “It was like we were in a bubble, only her and me,” says
Kerbaugh. “It was a top 10 moment.”
Lisa Snyder says her daughter, a neurodiverse child, has “thrived” because of Kerbaugh. “Not only have I seen Zoey’s academic skills continue to grow and strengthen, but I have seen her ability to connect and care for others deeply flourish,” she says.
Kerbaugh strives for connections every day in her classroom at Pattie Elementary School. Hailed for mentoring fellow teachers at the Dumfries school, Kerbaugh lives by the motto: “You have to go slow before you can go fast.” She dedicates the first 30 days of every school year to getting to know her students and creating a safe space for them to learn. “Especially with these little guys, you have to earn their trust and love, otherwise they’re not going to be receptive.”
In the process, she finds out what each kid enjoys, whether it’s racing, baseball, or piano. On weekends, you might find her at a game or a recital, or having dinner with a student’s family. “It gives me a good look at their personality when you see them outside the classroom.”
Kerbaugh sends weekly updates to parents, in which she shares books they’re reading and words they’re learning in class. She says the parents appreciate her efforts. “I love hearing about a parent who asks about a book we read in class, and their kid’s eyes pop out of their head. ‘Hey, you know that story, too?’”
Kerbaugh continues those connections long after her students move on. She founded Paws of Positivity, a community service club for fourth and fifth graders. “We are a Pattie family, and we teach these kids [to] not so much focus on themselves, but on what they can do to benefit the community they live in.” Paws of Positivity students organize projects such as sock drives, beautifying the school grounds, and raising funds to buy pet supplies for an animal shelter.
Kerbaugh empowers her students by allowing them to orchestrate their own parent-teacher conferences. To prepare, Kerbaugh helps each student collect samples of their work and develop learning goals for themselves. “We practice, and I model everything,” Kerbaugh says. During the conferences, her students discuss with their parents how to achieve their goals at home. “It’s a lot of work upfront, but they’re proud. They’re taking a lead on their own learning, making their own choices, and I’m right there behind them, cheering them on.”
Feature image by Jeff Heeney
RELATED CONTENT:
This story originally appeared in our October 2023 issue’s Teacher of the Year story. For more stories like this, subscribe to our monthly magazine.
