This week, we’re giving a #SuperSchoolShoutout to Lakeview Elementary School with kindergarten teacher Kathleen Schwartze and first grader Jorja Mae Hanks.

Kathleen knew she wanted to be a teacher since she was a little girl. She has worked for CPSD since 1987 and taught at Lake City and Dower elementary schools before joining the Lakeview team. “These students are so unique, there’s no one like them,” she said. “Getting to know them and their families over time has been wonderful.”

Kathleen has taught multiple generations of students – an estimated 1,000 kindergarteners. In fact, Lakeview’s principal, Kylie Danielson, was one of her former Lake City students. “How wonderful is that?” she asked. “It’s amazing to see some of my students choose to work in education as well. It feels like a great legacy.”

Kathleen enjoys working with CPSD’s youngest students because she is shaping foundational abilities they will need to succeed academically. “Reading, handwriting, I mean these are skills they’re going to be using for their whole life,” she said. “I like watching their brains grow as they learn to make connections and begin understanding the world around them.”

Kathleen is from Hawaii and is proud to share that she recently earned a master’s degree in Indigenous Education on the Native Hawaiian Track from Arizona State University. “Fifty-two percent of Native Hawaiians do not live in Hawaii anymore, and our region has the second highest Hawaiian population outside of Hawaii,” she said. “Students can’t be what they can’t see, and I want to encourage them to pursue their education, work hard in school each day, find scholarships and follow their dreams.”

Jorja is enjoying each minute of first grade and loves being a Lakeview Leopard. “I have a really kind teacher, Ms. Diedrich, who I like a lot because she is funny and makes class fun,” she said. “I also like recess and that the kids here are my friends.”

Jorja knows that she is a smart student and that there’s nothing she can’t learn. So far, math has been her favorite subject to dive into. “It helps my brain get bigger because it’s a little more challenging and I like to solve problems,” she said. “We’re learning about how to know when two sides of the equal sign are the same right now and that’s been interesting.”

Jorja also likes to pass the time by reading and will read any book that catches her eye, especially if the book is about animals. “I like fake stories and real-life stories, but I always want to read about my favorite animal: cats,” she said. 

Jorja is proud to be a Leopard and is known by teachers and her fellow students for being a helpful and kind friend to everyone. “Leopards are responsible, respectful and safe,” she said. “I like helping my teacher because she’s so nice, and sometimes she has to call on other students because I’m always raising my hand to answer questions in class.” 

Jorja is very ambitious and is not yet ready to choose one future career. If she could decide today, she would be an astronaut-firefighter-veterinarian-scientist-dentist-nurse-teacher. The sky is the limit, Jora!

Go Leopards!