Katie Volk

Teacher: Katie Volk

Subject: English Language Arts

School: Rockford Christian

Teaching experience: 34 years, all at RCS

What did a nominator or recommender say about this teacher?

• “Katie is incredibly creative in her lesson planning, generous with coworkers and loving with students. Even though she has been teaching for 30 years, she is eager to take on new challenges rather than just staying set in her ways. She is the ultimate team player and sees the positive in everything.” – nomination from a Teacher Academy member
• “Whether she was guiding students through literature, grammar or writing, she consistently pushed them to think clearly and communicate well. Katie doesn’t just cover the material; she builds confidence, sparks curiosity and helps students see what they’re capable of. She brings steadiness, joy and professionalism to her work every day. [The children who had her as a teacher], were challenged, supported and truly grew as readers and writers. I’m grateful for the influence she had on them.” – letter of recommendation from the Head of School

What does this teacher say?

“Teaching middle school is always an adventure. Over the years, I’ve found the most important attributes for success are embracing this tender but fantastic age and learning to laugh. As a teacher who has been in the classroom so long, I fear getting stagnant and losing the joy in the everyday life of teaching kids. I have committed to making sure this is not so. I am always looking for novel ideas and new ways to teach my subject. I can only feel gratitude for this career called teaching. These 34 years have been filled with happiness and tears; relationships with kids, parents and colleagues; and more laughter than I can express. When a student visits me years after I’ve taught them or a former student’s child is in my class and says, “my mom remembers your preposition song” or, even better, when a student tells me I made a difference in his/her life, this is the answer to what it means to be a teacher.”

What else do we know? She has been point person for the annual 7^th grade trip to Springfield, the Lincoln Museum and St. Louis. Other school activities she helps with: English department head, after-school writing club advisor, faculty council, Science Olympiad judge, campus planning council and more. She also co-created a new-teacher mentoring program.