At Bruce Collins Elementary School in Sterling Heights, Michigan, third-grade teacher Leah Einhaus maintains an active, student-centered classroom that fosters goal-setting, collaboration, hands-on activities, classroom discussions and problem-solving, all leading to higher-level thinking. Adept at curriculum integration, Einhaus has her students writing frequently across all content areas and engages her students in community service activities that reinforce math, reading and social studies skills. In 1999, she collaborated with secondary-level foreign language teachers to develop an elementary foreign language program for Utica Community Schools (UCS), which the district soon adopted in all 28 elementary schools. Einhaus has sponsored the school's participation in Destination ImagiNation (DI), a nationwide program in which students and adults engage in problem-solving competitions. Working weekly with the school's DI team, Einhaus helped them win at the district level and advance to the state competition. By year's end, nearly all of her students typically read at or above grade level, as measured by the Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI) and the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP). Chair of the school's Data Team, Einhaus shares her knowledge and expertise as a presenter at staff meetings and professional development events. She is a certified trainer for the Center for Performance Assessment and has provided her leadership on numerous school and district committees, including three years as co-chair of the North Central Association (NCA) Committee.
1993 Hillsdale College, B.A.
