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VFW State Teacher Of Year: Laurie Enebo

It's all about the small details. But bigger than the details is the passion for patriotism and history. Those are some of the qualities that got Glasgow East Side Middle School Sixth Grade Teacher Laurie Enebo noticed. Mike Zoanni, East Side School principal, kind of tricked her into accepting the nominations for the (Veterans of Foreign Wars) VFW Teacher of the Year.

She admits she was hesitant, more than hesitant, she didn't want the recognition at all. But Zoanni was a little persuasive in getting her to take a step forward and accept some letters of recommendation and a nomination.

Enebo, an English teacher now, has spent 28 years teaching her students. It's more than just a job for her, it's a passion. It probably helps that she focuses on the tasks at hand, but she also has every class photo, from every class she's ever taught posted in her classroom. The many years of classes shows small, young faces lined up. There's a few years she taught kindergarten in Glasgow. She also taught fourth grade for six years in Nashua. For the bulk of her teaching career, 17 years to be exact, she taught fifth grade.

"I think I was meant to teach because I've loved working with every age," Enebo said.

She's now watched some of her classes graduate and she's starting to see children from the children she's taught. Students are able to pick out their parents, siblings and other relatives in the photos on the wall.

While she's an English teacher now, she also taught social studies, reading and spelling. She has really enjoyed teaching social studies and encouraging her students to keep up with current events. Both the Billings Gazette and the Great Falls Tribune can be found laying out in the classroom for students to access. She's taught world history and American history in the past and explained that while she's not focused on those subjects, she still likes to incorporate it into lessons.

"I love the patriotism side of things and I love teaching that," Enebo said.

She had her students get involved in the Patriot Pen award for the VFW and she also encourages her students to write for the Voice of Democracy. Teaching her students the meaning of patriotism and the history behind it is what got her noticed by Zoanni. He nominated her for the teacher of the year award and said that it is something that her class always does. When the VFW's Willie Zeller looked over the nomination and her recommendations, he said it was an easy choice.

"She teaches a course in Americanism, she teaches the American way and patriotism," Zeller said. "I think kids in Montana have a better foundation of what patriotism means."

Zoanni explained that there are many teachers who don't want the recognition for their work, but he said some schools have gotten away from teaching patriotism and what it means. In his nomination letter he stated that Enebo is committed to her students, she connects with them and she sets high expectations while believing in them.

"She's always promoted and taught patriotism, what it means, including the history," Zoanni said. "She's done a thorough job on explaining and giving them a purpose for them to write."

Enebo said she encourages discussions in class. Often they do have some debate on different views and she said that sometimes its very apparent what parents are discussing at the home and who is keeping up. Sometimes the different views are good for some students that maybe haven't been exposed to current events and what's going on in the world and in politics.

In her classroom the most hated time of the year is the end of the year. She said after she's spent the year getting to know the students and they've gotten to know her, it's time to move on. One of her favorite things about Glasgow is the small classroom sizes and the school board and administration side being supportive and recognizing the value of the smaller sized classes. Her largest class size was 29 kids; she said it was only her second year teaching fifth grade and keeping up with all the students' needs was extremely difficult. Her smallest class size was 12 students in Nashua.

She also said that she is glad to have students with disabilities mainstreamed in the classroom. She said that it helps students become good citizens and teaches them a little bit about acceptance. As you observe Enebo in the classroom, she's always receptive to mistakes and has the students respond that as long as they learn from them it's okay.

While Enebo has won state for her grade level, she has a possibility of winning at the national level. At the national level, a $1,000 award is given to teachers for professional development and an additional $1,000 is given to the winning teacher's school. An all expense paid trip is also given to attend the national VFW event.

Last year was one of the first years that Montana had a teacher win the National VFW Teacher of the Year. Hunter Jones, an eighth grade teacher from Will James Junior High in Billings was selected. The VFW started sponsoring this award in 1999. Last year Glasgow High School teacher Brad Persinger was recognized for VFW Teacher of the Year for the state. Teachers can win in three grade categories, grades kindergarten through fifth, sixth through eighth and high school.

 

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