Eagle Grove kindergarten teacher, Stacy Osborn, is the recipient of this year's Local Unit 10 ISEA Excellence in Education Award for her dedication to the betterment of her students and her school.  

Osborn also came in as the Runner-Up for the State Award.  The award is sponsored and presented by the Iowa State Education Association which represents more than 34,000 professional educators across the state of Iowa.  

“It’s pretty amazing…and it feels good,” said Osborn about receiving the awards.  “But I don’t do it (teaching) for the awards, I do it for the kiddos.”

She does admit, however, that the recognition has given her a whole new motivation to keep going and always do what is best for her students, always looking for new ways to teach and reach them.

Osborn knew she was destined to be a teacher as early as the first grade.  Playing school was one of her most favorite things to do, and she was always the teacher.

“I’ve always enjoyed it,” she said.

While Osborn had many wonderful teachers herself while growing up, she said there were a couple in particular that stood out, perhaps inspiring her to actually become a teacher when she grew up.  Mr. Whipple always made things fun, she said, and then there was Mrs. Meyer, her fourth grade teacher.  She was the one who put forth the extra effort to help Osborn become a better reader, who admittedly struggled with the subject at that age.  That’s one of the biggest factors of why Osborn has been, and continues to be, so passionate about helping her own students find a way to make reading easier and fun while also realizing it doesn’t have to be a hard thing to learn to do.

“When I was a kid, it was about how fast you could read,” she said, remembering the timed tests. 

Today, in her own classroom, she teaches kids that it’s okay to slow down and take the time they need to understand what they are reading.  It’s not about speed.

“It should be fun,” she said.

Osborn began her teaching career in 1995 in Sterling, Ill., spending three years there teaching Pre-K.  In 1998 she moved to Eagle Grove where she has been a kindergarten teacher ever since.

“I’ve always loved little kids…it’s like I’m a kid magnet…I think it’s because I like to be silly and fun and act like a kid myself,” said Osborn with a big laugh.

She also likes to use her imagination and creativity, so it’s no surprise that’s some of the goals for the students in her room as well.  But the most rewarding part of being a teacher for her is when the kids get so excited and want to show her something they’ve learned. Perhaps that’s because Osborn makes it a point in her room to not only recognize the big achievements, but celebrate each student’s individual little successes as well.  That’s very important to her – letting her students know that their hard work and success is just as important to her as it is to them.  In Osborn’s classroom they also accept differences, learn that mistakes help the brain learn, focus on positive attitudes and the idea that “Every day is a new day,” and use the term “YET” as in, “You can’t read, YET!”

If you watch Osborn teach for any amount of time, it’s easy to see that the kids not only love her, but they are excited to learn, and that’s because she is excited to teach.  In fact, she said she’s constantly changing things up, looking for the best way to reach these particular set of students in this particular situation.  She said that there are literally nights where she stays up until 2 a.m. looking and thinking of new ideas…even on Tik Tok.  If it will capture their attention, she’s open to trying it.

COVID has really made her think out-of-the-box this last year.  At the beginning, she had to have all 23 of her students so spread out.  She had to wear a mask to teach.  Therefore, she said it was hard to know if she was connecting with each of her students.  So Osborn began spending more time teaching in small groups of kids so she could address their individual needs and they could interact more.  She has also been using her more visuals, songs, and movement in her classroom because she knows it’s so important since the kids can’t see her mouth makes sounds and shapes…for example when teaching the sound that “TH” makes.  That’s where her SmartBoard comes in handy.  The kids loved watching a sing-a-long about site words and the word “THIS.”

While many parents who have had children in Osborn’s classroom are probably not shocked that she has received this award, Osborn herself said she was ‘totally caught off guard.”

Teachers can be nominated by parents, colleagues, or anyone else involved in the education of children.  Osborn was nominated by Alana Alt.

In addition to her teaching duties, over the years Osborn has been involved in implementing PBIS starting back when she was a teacher at the old Lela Howland building (which EG Elementary has since become a banner school), leading the PBIS team, been a mentor teacher, a TLC (Teacher Leader)  member, and taken on district leadership duties to mention a few.