The Educators Rising students are going to state at University of Missouri-Columbia on April 1. Some are already going to nationals like freshmen Amanda Yoder, Athena Widlacki and senior Loryn Dotson.

In all, 11 Liberty Educators Rising members will be challenging other teams at state and hopefully the national level too.

“This is our first year competing and I am beyond proud of the work these students have done,” club sponsor Ms. Genenbacher said. “I am expecting big things at state and nationals.”

Nationals are June 22-25 in Dallas, Tx.

Yoder, Widlacki and Dotson have already made nationals because there are fewer than five other pairs competing in Missouri in their category.

Yoder and Widlacki are competing in a category called Researching Learning Challenges. They wrote a research paper about challenges students with intellectual disabilities face about about strategies teachers can use to help them.

“I am so excited competing for the first time,” Widlacki said.

Dotson qualifies in Lesson Planning: Career & Technical Education (Early Childhood).

The rest of the Educators Rising team is also going to compete to see if they get into nationals. They have all worked very hard for this opportunity. Here are the additional state competitors:

Seniors Autumn Jones and Olivia Crecelius in Children’s Literature K-3. They wrote an original children’s book “Melvin Finds His Way”.

Juniors Katie May and Lexie Bentley in Children’s Literature Pre-K. They wrote an original children’s book “The Man in the Moon”.

Senior Jen Deters in Lesson Planning: STEM. Her lesson was on building bridges with straws and she worked with the first grade class she cadet teaches with for the Pathways to Careers in Teaching class.

Dotson and senior Kara Collier hosted a preschool class in the evening in the Eagle’s Nest and taught their lessons to Pre-K students. Dotson (CTE) taught kids about how bread rises and made “bear paw” snacks with them (apple pie mix inside a biscuit dough). Collier taught how to clean teeth. Her category is Lesson Planning: Humanities. She made cute little alligator faces with construction paper and marshmallows. Then she put fluff in between the teeth and taught students to floss it out.

Juniors Halle Green and Megan Kruse are competing in Inside Our Schools. They are creating a video about a new program to Liberty and how it benefits the school and the students. They are focusing on the Pathways to Careers in Teaching class (which is in its second year).