HAVEN, Kan. — Ad Astra Radio is proud to announce Haven Grade School 3rd Grade teacher Lauren Rhinehart as the recipient of this month’s Classroom Hero Award, presented by Heartland Credit Union.
Each month, Ad Astra Radio honors a different educator, selected from community nominations, to receive the Classroom Hero Award, along with a “hero” gift basket, courtesy of community partners Heartland Credit Union, Midway Motors of Hutchinson, Stutzman’s Greenhouse, Hutch Putt and The Foto Cowboy.
This year is Rhinehart’s fourth year teaching at Haven Grade School. She taught 2nd Grade for one year and has been teaching 3rd Grade for the past three years.
Rhinehart is from the Maize/Wichita area and graduated from Maize South High School. She later earned her degree from Emporia State University.
When asked what made her want to become a teacher, Rhinehart said, “I worked on an engineering project and got to experience the classroom through a SPED point of view and got to work with new students.”
According to Rhinehart, it was a new challenge for her, and she ended up falling in love with it. She wound up making the transition to teach and has continued the program.
In a nomination submitted to Ad Astra Radio, Rhinehart was described as being actively involved in her community, from coaching softball to attending students’ games, concerts and other events. She also volunteers to help out wherever she is needed.
“Lauren finds ways to make learning fun for all the kids in her classroom,” the nominator said. “She always figures out what works best for a student and helps them achieve the best grades.”
The nominator added that Rhinehart finds fun ways to interact with her students on events going on in the world. For example, making a marshmallow bracket during March madness.
There are many aspects of teaching that Rhinehart loves, but the school’s enrichment program really stood out to her.
“We do a lot of in-district research projects to go with it,” Rhinehart said. “We’re working on one right now that works on fire safety.”
Rhinehart said at the end, classrooms then work on their fire safety plans.
The Classroom Hero Award seeks to highlight the hard work and dedication of those on the front lines of our local schools. Nominations can be submitted at https://www.adastraradio.com/classroomhero/.
Ad Astra Radio has been locally owned and operated since 1986 and is proud to be your hometown radio station.
