Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards
Theresa Kubasak
Baker Demonstration School
Evanston
Enter the classroom of Theresa Kubasak and you'll immediately understand that she has a "deep respect for the magic of the early childhood years," says Cheryl Chapman, a former colleague. "Theresa's room says 'Come on in! Explore! Read! Listen! Learn!'"
Kubasak teaches a diverse group of students in the second grade at the Baker Demonstration School of National Louis University. Literacy is integrated into her entire curriculum. Kubasak believes that linking students with multicultural literature that mirrors their own experience is vital. "I not only guide children to books about themselves, but I also shepherd them through literature of diverse cultures, challenging them to look inside and outside themselves for what is shared," relates Kubasak.
Kubasak also celebrates diversity through innovative activities. She has created a Hangul Nal festival, which is a Korean holiday that celebrates the birth of the alphabet. This year she included the families of the students, each sharing their own written language - Arabic, Armenian, Chinese, Hindi and Hebrew - in a variety of educational multigenerational activities.
Kubasak is a firm believer in fostering a close relationship with her students and their families. She makes a point of making a home visit to each of her students. "Over the course of my 28 years of teaching I have been to migrant worker huts, apartments, farmhouses, mansions and tenements. I have always been welcome and I have always put myself into the world of the child," says Kubasak.
Kubasak is also a leader within the field, heading up numerous inservices, training tutors, and most recently becoming the literacy program director for Reach Out and Read at the Evanston-Rogers Park Family Health Clinic.
Theresa Kubasak goes beyond reading and writing. She strives to educate the "whole person." "Philosophically, I do not just teach children to read," proclaims Kubasak. "I teach them to love reading and love the world."