Once Lauren Hendricks decked out her 6th grade classroom in a Harry Potter theme, there was no turning back. Her students wouldn’t let her.
The Hilliard Station teacher filled her room with wands and cauldrons and sorts her students into houses each year. She’s been doing it each of her five years of teaching at the school she adores.
“Oh, I love it,” she said. “You couldn’t pay me to leave.”
In fact, Hendricks spent time at the school before her official career, working as a student-teacher. And she knew education was her calling long before that.
“I kinda wanted to be an educator all my life,” she said. “I was definitely one of those kids with my best friend playing teacher, and we were going to be team teachers when we grew up, and that’s kind of been the predominant thing all throughout my schooling, and all of my teachers were really great, and they gave me opportunities to shadow them and to try things out, and it was really, really an awesome experience.”
Now Hendricks works alongside a team of what she described as great ladies. And that team includes Marcy McKnight, who nominated Hendricks as a Classroom Hero.
“Lauren’s motto is to make every day count, and she lives by that,” McKnight said. “She makes sure that every moment of every day means something with the kids. She pushes them. She makes them laugh. She brings out the best in all the kids. I believe that.”
McKnight said she was actually inspired by one of her students to nominate Hendricks. The idea grew out of her “Tell Me Something Tuesday” social-emotional learning activity. She said a student of hers described congratulating a friend for getting a part in the school play, even though it was a part that student had wanted. McKnight said it made an impact on her to see a student congratulating a peer in that way. And she was quick to give a shout-out to the entire staff.
“Through this trying year, I think that we have always been close, and I feel really lucky to work with all of you,” she said to the group gathered to surprise Hendricks. “I’m grateful. They didn’t hesitate to come out here and cheer her on and just be so happy and excited.”
As for the surprise, Hendricks said 10TV pulled off a big one, adding that she was floored.
“Station is a great home,” she said “I have very great people surrounding me, so it’s awesome. I love being here, I love my job.”