Former Becker High School student and 2005 graduate Phebe Carr was named this week’s Excellent Educator Award by WCCO-TV.

 

The award is a weekly prize given to that special someone who shines a special light on children through education. Carr’s colleague, Kelsey Oakes, was the person who nominated Carr.

 

Carr is a kindergarten teacher at Lucy Craft Laney Community School in Minneapolis. She knew she wanted to become a teacher ever since the third grade, but she wasn’t always so sure she wanted to work with the very young. Her inspiration in third grade was Carla Johnson in the intermediate school, who still teaches and inspires others.

 

“When I graduated from college, I never really wanted to become a kindergarten teacher,” she said. “I first started in first grade teaching and then through some unforseen circumstances, started subbing.”

 

Carr, 30, attended North Central University with her sights set on becoming a teacher in some capacity.

 

After graduating, Carr got the opportunity to sub at LCLCS in the kindergarten class despite her reservations.

 

“I just really didn’t want to have to deal with snotty-nosed kids and all the ‘babysitting’”, she added. “It wasn’t my first choice.”

 

But that choice turned out to be a blessing.

 

In 2010, Carr was offered a full time position as the kindergarten school teacher based on how she interacted with the tempestuous five-year-olds.

 

“The best part of my job is getting a hug from these students everyday,” Carr said.

 

Carr had no idea she was up for the award and was shocked when Kim Johnson and her cameraman  cut in on Carr’s Friday morning class last week.

 

“Here I was, dressed in just a sweatshirt and I look up and see a camera coming in my room,” Carr said. “I was shocked.”

 

Carr said her first thought when she saw the WCCO crew walk through her door was how this opportunity was finally going to shine a positive light on the North Minneapolis area.

 

“There’s been a lot of bad things in the news about Minneapolis and all the crime and such,” she said. “So my first thought was this is going to be a real positive thing for us.”

 

Carr and her fellow teachers at LCLCS came up with a new arrangement in which the same teacher would teach the same group of kids for two years in a row. That idea was to ease the transition from grade-to-grade for kids and give them some familiarity.

 

“It’s called looping and we thought it would be also be a great idea to keep the community of students together as they moved up from kindergarten to first grade,” she said. “We just tried it this year and it seems to be working out great.”

 

Carr’s smile and enthusiastic character are what her students are drawn to and she teaches the curriculum but also teaches life lessons for each and every one of her students. She creates an atmosphere of peace, joy and love amongst her students.

 

“I love watching students grow and succeed,” she said. “They help me get through the day.”

 

Carr currently resides in South Minneapolis where most of her time outside of school is spent with a very active and energetic three-and-a-half-year-old boy named Elias.

 

“This award is appreciated but in reality, it belongs to this school and all my fellow teachers,” Carr said. “Everyone of those colleagues deserves this award.”