Laverna Evans Elementary School teacher in O’Fallon earns prestigious education award

Karen Baxter is as enthusiastic 20 years later as she was when she first started teaching kindergarten students at LaVerna Evans Elementary School.

She has been selected to receive the Emerson 2021 Excellence in Teaching Award, and is among more than 80 teachers from across the St. Louis metropolitan area being recognized this year

The Emerson Excellence in Teaching Awards, now in its 32nd year, is one of the St. Louis region’s most recognized teacher recognition programs.

A spokesman said Emerson is proud to sponsor this program as a way of helping the St. Louis community express their collective admiration and gratitude for their dedication to teaching the area’s students.

The award, which includes an engraved crystal apple from Tiffany & Company and other tokens of appreciation, is being delivered this week.

Principal Ryan Keller said Baxter is an example of truly outstanding educational excellence.

“I’ve worked with Karen for 20 years, and she is kind, caring and considerate — and the ultimate professional. As fabulous as she is as a teacher, she is equally as wonderful a person,” Keller said. “She will do anything and everything to have students achieve social, emotional and academic goals.”

Keller said she is a great communicator with parents and is loved by everyone who works with her.

“She has been an inspiration and delight to work with all these years, and I know she will continue to do great things,” he said.

While growing up in Fairview Heights, Baxter said she knew at an early age she wanted to be a teacher.

“I wanted to work with kids,” she said.

Baxter earned both a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in from Illinois State University. She spent eight years teaching in Galesburg, Illinois, before moving back to the metro-east area.

Baxter said she is grateful for her colleagues as the kindergarten classroom is an open space without walls at Evans. Currently, there are three classrooms, and teachers have 25 students each.

“We work together. They are very supportive and helpful — we help each other,” she said. “They work hard and are dedicated. We are kind of like a family. It’s a great place to work. Everybody from the administration on down is supportive and helpful. I never wanted to leave here because of that.”

After the uncertainties of teaching during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Baxter was thrilled to return to the classroom this fall.

“The students come in excited to be there. They love learning and are still so energetic. They soak it all in,” she said.

The mid-March shutdown last year was tough at first, she said, but students adapted to Zoom, and parents were helpful, she said.

Because they developed relationships online during the Zoom sessions, when they first returned to the classroom, it was special.

“They were very eager to see their friends in person. It was really sweet,” she said. “I was very excited to see the kids in person. It’s nice to see their smiling eyes. Remote was harder because of not being able to reach through the screen and help them.”

Kindergarten, technology changes

Over the years, the use of technology has changed considerably.

“When I started, we had overhead projectors. Now we have document cameras,” she said.

Kindergarten has changed as well because of many students now attend preschool, Baxter said. But that didn’t happen last year because of COVID-19, so students were more dependent this term, she said, “but it’s nice to see them become more independent as the school year progresses.”

Social hindrances of COVID

The social aspects were affected during lockdown — sharing, getting along with others, taking turns, waiting in a line — but it is returning to normal, she said.

The primary goals of kindergarten are to learn the alphabet, read a little bit, add and subtract up to 5 (such as 5-2 or 2+3), and write up to two sentences, she said.

Art is incorporated into daily work through different projects and connects with all of the kids.

“It reaches all the learning styles,” she said.

More about Karen Baxter, deflecting praise

While attending Illinois State, Baxter met her husband, who is from the Chicago area. He is also a teacher. They currently live in Edwardsville and have three children: Ages 17, 21 and 24. .

In her spare time, Baxter said she enjoys walking, baking, and crafting.

She said she was surprised to learn of her honor. In typical humble fashion, she deflected and wanted to honor her co-workers.

“Really, everyone here deserves it,” Baxter said.

This story was originally published November 14, 2021 at 9:51 AM.