Educator of the Year | Teen Ink

Educator of the Year

May 9, 2018
By Will Ripplinger GOLD, Nashotah, Wisconsin
Will Ripplinger GOLD, Nashotah, Wisconsin
17 articles 0 photos 0 comments

I was  bored when I went to church during the weekdays and weekends.  It was always sitting around and trying to understand what was going on.  The church tried to make it better when they added classes for kids to attend and meet people around their age.  We played games and and tried to incorporate the bible as best as they could.


It changed when Mrs. Steinbauer came in as a teacher.  She was friends with my mom before she worked there and then became the new youth group leader.  She incorporated new activities like sleeping over at the church but play games all night and have food there for us to eat.  She organized us to give gifts to families in need and then eat at Buffalo Wild Wings after.  She knew how to work with the kids and acted like my second mother. 
Mrs. Steinbauer didn’t worry about getting paid or anything, she just wanted to see the smiles on everyone's face.  One memory I wouldn’t forget is when she said “Lineup it’s toilet bowl time.”  Me and my friends just looked at each other and had no idea what was going on.  Little did we know it was throwing toilet paper into a bucket with a toilet seat on it.  She drew a line and said the first team to make all their shots wins the game and doesn’t have to clean up after dinner.


At the time all of us are like “We need to win we can’t lose and clean up everything”.  We found out that all the young kids were playing the older kids (like my brother and his friends).  Of course we lost, but Mrs. Steinbauer made the older kids do it favoring the younger kids.  We all felt like perfect little children.


Mrs. Steinbauer also taught 4k at my grade school.  She pulled me and a friend of mine out of class to help her set up a tent that took 10 minutes, but she had us stay with her for half the school day to talk about life.  She doesn’t work at the school or a youth group teacher anymore, but the memories with her will not be forgotten.  She always had a smile on her face as if everyday was the best day ever.  The amount of life lessons and giving back to the community projects we have done with her is unthinkable.  She is truly the best mentor I have ever had.



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