Excellent Educator: Lisa Martin Of Northview Elementary

MINEAPOLIS (WCCO) – As a young girl growing up in Eagan, Lisa Martin used to dream of being a teacher, she even played "school" in the basement of her family home.

As an adult, Mrs. Martin is living out her childhood dream teaching second grade at Northview Elementary. And she loves every minute of it.

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

"These kids make my job really easy. And just showing them every day how much I love them and how much I care about their success is what contributes to their success," Martin said.

Martin spent 10 years teaching kindergarten, but has fallen in love with her second graders.

"These kids are independent and they're so very capable," she said. "It's just a different kind of need. Kindergarteners need a lot more attention, a lot more molding so to speak. These guys are pretty with it and they're ready to take on the world."

A parent nominated Martin for the award, and Martin said she was honored and surprised.

"I guess I've been known to do a few things like sing and dance that makes things fun sometimes. Even though I tell kids don't tell your parents that," Martin said.

She may come off as an entertainer to her students, but her colleagues say Martin knows how to reach kids at a deeper level.

"Her ability to take a student where they are and bring them to the next level," Northview Elementary principal Kerri Town said. "She has an intuitive sense about kids and so she taps into what's good."

Now in her 23rd year as a teacher, Martin's passion is stronger than ever. She's an educator whose excellence is noticed inside the classroom and out.

"My parents have always been so very proud of me," she said.  "I think it would be their biggest bragging point ever, so this just means a lot to me but I also know it means the world to them too."

Her parents, Ralph and Geralda Wagner of New Market, are her biggest fans. Martin was the first in her family to go to college.

She's says she's never taken an education for granted and it was her teachers who inspired her to teach others.