Ms. Hoelzen has been teaching for 17 years. She graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Education and earned her Master of Arts in Early Childhood from Northern Arizona University. In 2003, Lisa achieved National Board Certification and facilitates the process for teachers in her district, Deer Valley Unified, in an effort to advance and strengthen the teaching profession.

• “I teach Kindergarten! If you can imagine being in a room of twenty-five five-year olds as they explore and investigate live worms – you know my joy each day. My students are active, energetic, risk-takers, loving, inquisitive and the most precious beings on this earth. We giggle, learn, hug, express mutual respect for each other, and I attend to all this while assessing, planning, and implementing appropriate and individualized goals. Each day I am given the gift of making a difference in the lives of more than 40 little students, and I treasure each and every second I have with them. My day certainly does not stop when they leave; that is when my reflecting, reevaluating, and planning continue. Teaching, to me, never stops. As I lay on my pillow at night, I relive every miraculous moment of the day, and critique my teaching.”

• “My teaching style demonstrates my dedication to providing a safe, secure and loving atmosphere whereby learning takes place every minute of the day. My students know they are loved and cherished for the individual uniqueness that each one displays. I embrace the exceptional needs my children possess and I know how to nourish and teach them. I empower them with the knowledge to respect, be curious, choose for themselves, love learning, and the desire and capability to know they do make a difference in the world. This is all done in 400 square feet, six hours a day, with forty five-year olds.”

• “Team planning must be a part of the educational day. Collaborative opportunities between the exceptional needs teachers and the general education staff allow for the sharing of vital information that is necessary to properly develop strategies and learning modalities to reach a student with exceptional needs. This information becomes crucial for success and the opportunity to collaborate must be a standard daily practice.”

• A fellow Kindergarten teacher says of Ms. Hoelzen, “Lisa not only teaches the minds of her students she also teaches their hearts. She has such compassion for her students and remembers what it feels like to be a child. She keeps that innocent childlike quality alive in her classroom. She is viewed by her students as a teacher, mentor and friend with the highest expectations for each of them.”