Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards
Marilyn Peterson
State Pre-K Teacher
Barbara Vick Early Childhood and Family Center
Chicago
Marilyn Peterson's passion is to make a difference. This simple fact guides her teaching. Whether it's caring for children with special needs in her State PreK classroom at Barbara Vick Early Childhood and Family Center on Chicago's Southwest Side, or helping prepare the next generation of early childhood teachers at a local university, Peterson approaches teaching with the idea that she's a model for the attitudes, thoughts and emotions of the students in her care. Peterson can't remember a time in her life when she "didn't want to be a teacher." Since childhood she's loved going to school, playing school, and now she lives the life she has loved. Her teaching lessons and interactions with others all underscore this: Her lessons are carefully planned, and every part of her classroom communicates this is a place where children can thrive. A recent lesson on frogs demonstrated the tremendous variety of ways children can interact with "frogs," including pictures, toys, books, posters, games, and a tank containing live frogs, tadpoles and eggs. Creating partnerships in the classroom is also a fundamental part of Peterson's approach: working with colleagues in teaching teams; welcoming each child and family as a significant part of the classroom; mentoring new teachers and providing guidance to student teachers, all fuel her teaching passion. Known for doing "whatever it takes" to get the job done and help her students grow, Peterson readily volunteers for new challenges and takes on additional responsibilities. Recently, she developed a lending library, which includes the "Gingerbread Man" book she created -- one that incorporates a picture of every child in her class -- to encourage families to read to their children. As one colleague noted, most of the teaching materials Peterson uses seem "hand-created and not store produced." For Peterson, creating relationships, connections, communication with families, and reinforcing and extending the growth and developmental needs of children is not only the greatest challenge, it's the most important part of teaching.