NORWOOD, Ohio– A teacher once discouraged from going into the profession is now Ohio’s Teacher of the Year for 2020 and now has the chance to make the short-list for national teacher of the year. Believe it or not, a professor once told Spanish Teacher Leila Kubesch she didn’t have what it would take to be a teacher. In spite of that, she pressed forward with a determination to make a difference in the lives of kids that are inside and outside of the classroom.
- Kubesch teaches 7th and 8th grade Spanish and ESL
- She’s a former court-appointed child advocate for foster youth
- Kubesch is now a nominee for National Teacher of the Year
On a Monday morning, Leila Kubesch unpacks fruit for her eighth grade Culture and Writing class at Norwood Middle School.
It’s her way of connecting with students, while enhancing the way they write, see, and interact with the world. For a few minutes, she picks their brains before they get to an assignment they’ll work on in a little bit. Reaching up to put aprons on a few students, she enlists a little help to pass out pieces of a juicy mango she’s sliced. Helping them to understand cultural etiquette, she tells all of them, “If you don’t like it, you can say no thank you. But you don’t want to make a face or go on to say ohhh...this is gross.”
While touch, smell, and taste drive their learning for the day, it’s challenging them to open their minds, expand their minds, and to think differently. As they try new types of fruit, Kubesch works to connect with the students. She says, connecting with each one, their families, and the surrounding community is what keeps her motivated and advocating for them. It’s something she believes is the reason why she won the teacher of the year. For Kubesch, being connected often means meeting parents on a Saturday to figure out ways to help kids, visiting their homes, or dropping off their homework when they’re sick.
She believes that if she can understand their challenges at home while building relationships through projects and sessions like this, it helps her to meet their needs in the classroom better. That includes encouraging them to rise above their challenges and letting them know they are worthy and capable of doing anything as long as they have dreams and goals in mind to accomplish it all.
While Kubesch inspires her kids to be the best, she says as teacher of the year, it doesn’t necessarily mean she is the best; it just means she’s the best messenger right now to share her experiences from the classroom and to pass them along to others.
Kubesch has not only taught for two decades but advocated for foster youth in Ohio. As Ohio Teacher of the Year, Kubesch now has the chance to become a finalist for National Teacher of the Year. If selected, she’ll step away from the classroom for one year and travel as a spokesperson and an advocate for teachers nationwide.
To learn more about Leila Kubesch, click here.