Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards
Luis Soria, Jr.
Third Grade Teacher
William F. Finkl Academy
Chicago
Inside and beyond his bi-lingual classroom in the Pilsen/Little Village neighborhood, Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Award finalist Luis Soria, Jr. practices the concept of "collective responsibility" for the lives of children -- a concept First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton popularized with her book It Takes a Village.
In addition to stimulating the minds of the 33 young charges in his third grade class with novelties such as "Literature Circles" and the "Math Wizard," Soria makes the education of his young children at William F. Finkl Academy a community enterprise. He routinely comes up with new and innovative ways to get parents and community members involved. For example, for each week during the school session Soria sends home with his students "The Parent Letter," which recaps class assignments, outlines learning goals, and suggests ideas and activities that parents and students can undertake together to reinforce children's learning.
One recent letter explained the Family Math Project for the week, suggesting that families calculate the total amount of tortillas consumed by each family member, and then provided tips on how to graph the data. The Parent Letters also promote two-way interaction, by encouraging parents to respond in writing with their comments or concerns, or even to call him at home. And many parents do, write and call. By the end of each school year, Soria has usually established himself as a familiar visitor to each of his students' homes, as he makes it his responsibility to visit each of his students at home at least twice during the school year.
Parents have responded in-kind to Soria's interest in the lives of his pupils outside the classroom. Administrators at Finkl report that Soria's classroom averages 100 percent attendance during school-sponsored Parents' Nights. As a Latino male teaching in the community in which he grew up, Soria's commitment to his students is very personal. Yet, as a multiple grant winner (Rochelle Lee Fund, National Endowment for the Humanities), workshop leader and mentor, he is frequently called upon to share his talents with his professional colleagues. Further evidence of his commitment to his students and his profession is his decision to pursue National Board Certification in teaching, which he will complete later this year, enabling him to deliver to his school and to his community the highest quality of teaching services recognized.