Michele K. Stewart was a highly effective teacher for nearly a decade in Afton, Iowa, before moving to Wisconsin in 2004. Now, as a fifth-grade teacher at Colby Middle School in Colby, she uses a variety of innovative strategies and activities to facilitate learning and ensure student success. To motivate struggling readers and foster a love of literacy, Mrs. Stewart initiated a Before-School Reading Club in which students read and discuss books over breakfast, connecting what they read with prior knowledge and experiences. She also implemented a Reading Buddies program in which struggling fifth graders learn fluency, intonation and comprehension by helping first graders learn to read. She involves parents and the community in activities ranging from baseball spelling bees and math bowls to class plays and a food fair. Mrs. Stewart's students regularly achieve benchmarks and standards, with many often surpassing expectations. As she did with her second-grade students in Iowa, Michele Stewart is giving her fifth-grade students in Wisconsin a truly first-rate education.
