Excellent Educator: Lexington Kids' Katelyn O'Keefe

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – For most kids, preschool is their first experience away from mom and dad. And that can put a lot of pressure on the teacher to make the classroom comfortable.

Ms. Katelyn O'Keefe at Lexington Kids Christian Child Care in St. Paul has a knack for making it an easy transition for both the children and their parents.

It's what makes her this week's Excellent Educator.

O'Keefe is well known for nurturing a special relationship with each of her students. She not only knows their strengths and weaknesses but also their home life, their brothers and sisters names and pet names, too.

In addition to all of the teaching and love that she imparts on her students, she also takes time out of her nonworking hours to arrange "Family Fieldtrips."

These are held on weekends as a means of building community between the families in her class, providing intentional experiences for her students and to give parents an opportunity to see the children interact outside of the school setting.

O'Keefe attended college in Seattle. She got her first teaching experience in Tanzania teaching English to grade school kids.

She moved back home to Minnesota to be closer to her family and her dad, who is battling cancer.