Mrs. Trudeau: Teacher of the Month!

Mrs. Trudeau is busy making a difference in the lives of students at Columbia Central High School!  She is focused on cultivating an environment of academic success.  She has always loved helping others.  As an elementary student Mrs. Trudeau loved helping grandmother, Alice Haystead, who was a teacher at Clarklake Elementary School.  As a high school student she would take every opportunity to assist her aunt who was also an elementary teacher in Napoleon.  Because of her love for helping others and experience helping in classrooms and tutoring struggling students, Mrs. Trudeau was determined to become a special education teacher.

This past year, she was voted “Teacher of the Year” by her fellow Columbia Central High School teachers.  Mrs. Trudeau is consistently working to advance her students to higher levels of academic achievement through careful planning and focusing on increasing her student’s educational excellence.  She works to motivate her students by encouraging them to exceed their expectations and their past academic performance.  Her caring and nurturing spirit supports her students both academically and socially.

Mrs. Trudeau achieved her dream of becoming a special education teacher at Columbia.  Her first year she worked with junior high students in the morning and taught kindergarten in the afternoon.  She said that she worked with the late Mary Neely and that she “learned so much from her as she was an amazing teacher and a wonderful human being.”  Although she loved the little ones, she took her dream job as a full time special education teacher at Columbia Central High School the next fall.

Mrs. Trudeau is currently in her 32^nd year of teaching.  Mrs. Trudeau says she is so blessed to have a job in which every day is diverse, and is so privileged to work in the satisfying, life-changing career of teaching.  Mrs. Trudeau said that, “There is nothing like watching a student have that "Aha" moment or seeing their faces when they finally understand a concept or when they get a good grade on an assignment, quiz or test.”  

She continued by saying, “I love teaching, especially math.  There are a lot of students who struggle with math and I have tried, over the years, to make it fun.  I love being able to create projects around math concepts.”  Mrs. Trudeau also mentioned that, “I have been able to make treats for the veterans at Christmas, teaching students to read recipes, compare prices and calculate costs.  We have made gingerbread houses, learned cake decorating and even took a trip to Lowes to price the supplies it would take to decorate a room in a home. We made pies for Pi Day as a culminating activity when learning about circles.”  

Columbia teachers recognized Mrs. Trudeau for her leadership in the classroom and as an important part of the school improvement efforts.  Mrs. Trudeau’s enthusiasm for learning in various settings is illustrated by her ability to demonstrate creativity and innovation in her lesson plans and using teaching methods that inspire students to learn.  She has had an impact on students through her love of theater and the musicals.  She is excited to be directing this year's Jr. High musical, SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK LIVE! JR., which will take place on May 3^rd and 4^th at 7:00 pm, and May 5^th at 2:00 pm at the Columbia Performing Arts Center.  The musical features many of the songs from the old cartoon series “Schoolhouse Rock.”