On Thursday, November 14th, a surprise pep fest was held in Jessica Strom’s honor. Andrew Hanson had a few words to say about her at this pep fest, and they are as follows:
I was asked to speak about Mrs. Strom today, and I am honored to take this opportunity to talk about my friend, an Educator of Excellence.
“Above and beyond”. That’s the phrase that comes to mind when I think about Mrs. Strom. This teacher works tirelessly to ensure student success, not just at Win-E-Mac, but in other schools as well. I’m not sure whether many of you know this, but Mrs. Strom is the Region 7 director of MCTM, which stands for Minnesota Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Region 7 encompasses the northwest quarter of the state. She may be gone from her classroom from time to time, but that’s because she’s teaching other math teachers at area workshops to ensure that those teachers are also equipped with the best tools and practices to help their students succeed as well.
Mrs. Strom will be gone on Monday and Tuesday as well next week because she is attending the 2019 MREA Annual Conference, where she will officially receive her Educator of Excellence award. The MREA is the Minnesota Rural Educators Association, which advocates exclusively for education in Greater Minnesota (this large area outside of the Twin Cities). If you want to read more about the MREA and about this award, I’ve posted a link on the Win-E-Mac Patriot Press website, which is wempatriotpress.com.
Mrs. Bakken is also attending the MREA Annual Conference with Mrs. Strom, and she was unfortunately not able to be here today either. However, she had a few things that she wanted to say about Mrs. Strom as well:
I wish I could be here today to celebrate with everyone. Please understand how fortunate we are as a community to have such a treasure in Mrs. Strom. You will never – EVER – get another Mrs. Strom in your life; there will not be another teacher or colleague as devoted to your success as much as she is. I hope you invest as much time and effort into her classes as she does toward your learning and understanding… And, to my friend, Jessica: We admire you and respect you for the endless work you do for all of us. This award is a big deal, and so are YOU. We choose to celebrate you for all the reasons we adore you, and we are so very proud we get to know you.
I wanted to say once again how proud we ALL are that you’re receiving this well-deserved award next week. And finally, in the wise words of Savahanna Svalen: “Strommy, you’re the bomb!”