“I’ve always said I may not be the teacher bringing the most knowledge to the class, but I have wisdom and compassion, and I think that is important.”
Marla Stiefvater has been teaching with North East ISD for 22 years.
She started as an English teacher at Eisenhower Middle School.
But teaching wasn’t enough for her.
“I took on supplemental positions,” said Stiefvater. “I worked evenings and Saturdays with our parenting students and McKinney students. Then, when I came over here, I floated into the Achieve room. I feel like this sort of chose me.”
She’s now running the Achieve program at Churchill High School. Achieve is a credit recovery class. It helps students get caught up and graduate.
“We have students who are new to Texas or new to the country, so they need classes to graduate,” said Stiefvater. “Some students are supporting themselves. School is not as much of a priority because they’re paying their bills, buying their own hygiene products, food, and helping out maybe with the cable bill. They have some kind of struggle that has made them maybe not as successful as they could have been otherwise. And we want to help.”
Stiefvater and her co-coordinator Joanne Hultgren are busier than ever, with graduations around the corner. They have helped students complete more than 100 courses this year and are working feverishly to help as many students as they can cross the stage in May.
“We’re very proud of that because the kids, I feel, have found a place in the program where they feel that they can accomplish something,” said Stiefvater. “I love seeing them graduate. It’s amazing because students find themselves.”
Stiefvater will stop at nothing to make sure her students achieve their goals. But she believes it’s actually pretty easy to help most students.
“Every student has quite a story to tell, which is why they’re in there. And I think, sometimes with students, they just want to be heard. And once they are, then hopefully we can get them on the right track to graduate.”
Marla Stiefvater is why we appreciate our teachers. She tirelessly works to make sure her students achieve their dreams #theNEISDway.
