At St. Louis High School, all teachers are appreciated for their contributions to the school, but one teacher was recently especially recognized for her selflessness, and that was Megan Kaiser.
Because of that selflessness, she recently received the “Tireless Effort Award.” This award is given out monthly to the teacher who has tirelessly contributed the most, as Kaiser has.
Kaiser mentioned, “I think the most rewarding part is when you know you have built connections with students. And the student council is just allowing me to do that even more. Our meetings are fun. We get to laugh in between talking about things that need to get done. It’s just nice when I get to have conversations with students that aren’t about english homework. I think those conversations are then what makes my students willing to come to my class and put in the effort to do their best.”
While Kaiser was already the representative for the Gender-Sexuality Alliance club, she recently also took over the role of representing the student council. As a student council member, Kaiser helped plan for both homecoming and the spirit week that led up to it.
Many students truly respect Mrs. Kaiser and are grateful to have had her as either a teacher or a representative for their club. According to junior Alexis Hitsman, a student council member, “Mrs. Kaiser has stepped in and taken on the role of our new representative. As her first year, planning homecoming was definitely a challenge, but she pulled it off amazingly, and she is just a great fit for this position.”
Kaiser then shared, “At first, balancing student council and teaching was difficult because it was a lot of work. Having taught English nine and 10 before has helped because I know the curriculum well and how I like to teach certain things, so that helped with being able to balance because it meant I could devote more time and energy to student council. And having freshmen, it was a great opportunity for me to advertise student council stuff to my classes and get them excited about events. I also think it helped me build relationships with my students a lot more quickly because they got to see a fun, enthusiastic side of me that usually doesn’t come out in the first few weeks of trying to get through classroom expectations and pre-tests. Because I have been doing GSA for a few years now, it isn’t as much work because I know the ropes of it. I think that my enthusiasm for student council is also helping us come up with new and fresh ideas in GSA as well.”
Mrs. Kaiser further exclaimed, “I’d be lying if I said there weren’t hard days, and on those very difficult days it really just is about the willpower to do what needs to be done. One of my favorite quotes is, “You will never always be motivated. You have to learn to be disciplined.” I usually try to find one positive thing that has made me happy when I come in in the morning and just keep remembering that if I find my mood slipping again. Oftentimes, I will feel better once school has started and I get into the swing of the day.”
