‘The students keep me going’ -- Grand Ledge teacher receives Teacher of the Year award

GRAND LEDGE, Mich. (WILX) - Teaching is no easy task, but when you add the pandemic, it turns some educators into classroom heroes.

Ashleigh Lore, a teacher in Grand Ledge, has been given the regional teacher of the year award.

“The students are really was are keeping me going,” Lore said.

She teaches music at Delta Center Elementary School. She said, as a teacher, the past few years have been really tough in ways no one could prepare for.

However, she said she’s a third generation educator and that teaching is in her blood.

Lore was new to the school last year. With 600 students to get to know, she said she’s happy to be back in person.

“This year, now that we’re back together in person with a more normal schedule, it’s just been -- it’s been tough,” Lore said. “But it’s also been so rewarding the things that we’ve been able to do again together.”

Lore said the impact she’s been able to make in student’s lives is the driving force behind what she does.

“Especially this year with my students and the things that they are doing and the things that they’re learning and what they want to learn and how present they want to be,” Lore said.

She said having students that are excited and ready to learn makes her job more rewarding than she could imagine and knowing that teachers are leaving to do other things is kind of heartbreaking.

“I think it’s very sad and it’s something that I’m hopeful that we, as regional educators, will be able to work through a bit better in the next year or two,” Lore said.

Lore said the hugs she gets from her students let her know she’s doing something right.

“Despite the challenges, it’s so much of their energy and being part of their world that has really kept me going,” Lore concluded.

That’s what will keep her going throughout her career. As a regional winner, Lore is now a finalist for Michigan Teacher of the Year.

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