Think back to when you were a student, back-to-school shopping, finding your classroom, and the exciting lessons that would soon fill your day. The first day of school jitters that were calmed by the friendly, welcoming face, and celebrating the “ah ha” moments when you finally figured out how to solve the problem. Then there was the time in kindergarten, when you went to the restroom but couldn’t remember the way back to your classroom. As panic set in, that friendly face walked around the corner and they knew exactly where your classroom was. These champions make math exciting and words come to life through reading and writing, they stood beside you and cheered as you mastered kickball, that difficult note, or the masterpiece that needed a little finesse. Although everyone’s school experience was different, teachers are the common thread throughout classrooms and schools. They are the first to welcome you to a new class, they spend extra time working through a challenging problem, and they give you a high five when you accomplish your goals.

St. Vrain is the proud home to nearly 2,000 teachers who spend their days preparing our students for the future. Join us in celebrating our teachers and learn what they enjoy about teaching, why they became teacher and what their favorite memory is from the days they spent as a student in the classroom.

Thank you to all of our teachers.

Getting to know:
Maridee Moll
Grade 1
Hygiene Elementary School

What do you enjoy most about teaching?
Teaching is a very rewarding career. It is never the same from day to day or even moment to moment. My colleagues are my second family and best friends. Whenever I’m having a tough day, all I really need to do is walk into my classroom full of first graders and one of them is sure to put a smile on my face with their complete silliness or the sweetness of a hug around the waist. But the best thing about teaching is the twinkle in a child’s eye and the smile that builds across his face when he first realizes that he “gets it!” I have always said that I teach because I want every child to experience a lifetime joy of learning. When I see that shy smile and face lit up with that true pride and joy of a new task learned, my soul fills with happiness.

Briefly tell us about the path you took to becoming a teacher?
From as early as I can remember, I wanted to be a teacher. That’s not to say I didn’t waffle from time to time. At ten, I was sure I would be a veterinarian. Then, in high school I visited a marine park and seriously considered a career as a marine biologist. However, when my older cousin became a special education teacher, I realized that was truly the path for me. As a child I would gather all of the neighborhood children in my living room. If they were not available, my stuffed animals would do. Then, with left over math workbooks in hand, I would teach them everything they needed to know. I could emulate my favorite third grade teacher so well that my parents were convinced that I was Mrs. Nelson. I began my teaching career as an elementary special education and reading teacher in my home-state, Illinois. After fulfilling a scholarship requirement to teach in Illinois for two years, my husband and I took the first flight to Colorado. We landed in the quaint little town of Leadville. There I continued to teach preschool through fourth grade special education. For eight years I enjoyed working with small groups of students in resource and inclusion settings. Although I wasn’t really sure about leaving special education when my family moved to Longmont in 2005, I was excited to take on a new adventure as a regular education kindergarten teacher. During college, I observed a group of kindergarteners sitting in a circle whispering about an event with scissors that happened when they were “little” and was immediately hooked. Since then I have been stationed at the world’s best elementary school, Hygiene. Here I have had the privilege of teaching kindergarteners, second graders, and now first graders. What a gratifying almost 20 years it has been.

What is your favorite memory from when you were a student?
While I have many, many fond memories as a student, one in particular continues to come back to me in my teaching career. Looking back I believe my teacher, again, Mrs. Nelson, and her student teacher completely understood the importance of engagement. When learning about Asia, we third graders were truly immersed in Asian culture. We ate white rice with chopsticks and paraded around the school in our trash bag kimonos while listening to Chinese music. While the lines between subjects were completely blurred, I am certain many, if not all, were taught during this integrated unit. To this day, whenever I plan a unit, I try to share this true joy of learning with my students just as those teachers did for me. This is one of the reasons I am so excited about Hygiene becoming a STEAM school. This year, we took our entire school on a year long, school-wide design challenge to Pluto. Utilizing the design thinking process, our six and seven year-old first graders designed an absolutely incredible water system to supply a colony of 100 Plutonians. The learning was completely out of this world!