2002 Wisconsin Teacher of the Year
Ms. Ludewig teaches all subjects to grade three students at St. Germain Elementary in St. Germain, Wisconsin. She has been teaching for twenty-eight years.

What are your beliefs about teaching?
"The best way to describe the challenges that have guided my personal teaching philosophy throughout the years is 'Keep them coming back for more!' In order to do this, I provide an active, enthusiastic and stimulating educational environment that enables students of all abilities to succeed and increase their performance socially, emotionally, and intellectually."

How are your beliefs incorporated in your teaching style?
"Besides teaching with a certain amount of showmanship, there is an emphasis on hands-on involvement in my classroom. When that is not possible, lessons are enhanced with vicarious experiences. The artifacts, visuals, books, models, outside experts and collections that I use as introductions to concepts and skills throughout our curriculum, continually amaze students. They never know what might be pulled out of the closet or cupboard or who might be coming into the classroom next to facilitate their learning. This keeps them coming back each day as enthusiastic learners."

What is your greatest teaching accomplishment?
"Being selected as the Wisconsin Teacher of the Year was an accomplishment I never even dreamed about! I am very proud to be representing Wisconsin and have enjoyed the additional challenges, new insights and the greater network of teaching contacts this title has given me. On a day-to-day basis, the "aha" look on a student's face when he grasps a concept and is able to make a new skill a part of his life is an accomplishment that still gives me shivers of excitement!"

What's the most critical issue facing educators today and what do you think can be done to resolve this issue?
"One of the most critical issues is the rise of developmentally inappropriate academic expectations of our children. Providing more content earlier in school often doesn't create the lifelong learners society is expecting schools to turn out today. Parents and government officials need to be continually reminded and informed that we should all have high expectations of our students at all grade levels, but that these expectations must also be realistic in order to allow each child to develop at his own rate in his own learning style. When this is accepted in our schools, we will be on the way to the creation of lifelong learners with a more positive attitude toward the value of education."

Inspirational thought:
"Enthusiasm – catch it and keep it! Children learn what their teacher loves so let it show. Curriculum standards and benchmarks can be incorporated into these lessons to create those memorable experiences that your students will eventually share with their children and grandchildren."