- April 18, 2024
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Kim Weeks in the Polar Express room. One way she encourages reading for fun. Photo Jacque Estes
Kim Weeks, Old Kings Elementary Teacher of the Year. Photo Jacque Estes
Kim Weeks moved from South Florida with her family 14 years ago. For four years she taught at Bunnell Elementary, but 10 years ago she had the opportunity to become the media specialist and technology teacher at Old Kings. Her technology classes study digital citizenship, cyber-bullying, and digital footprints.
“What continues to inspire me are my struggling students; because when you see that light bulb come on, and you see the happiness when they finally get something, it is just amazing,” she said.
Weeks stays busy creating relationships with her parents and the community, a task that rarely stays within the confines of the school day.
“I do nighttime events, we have fairy tale night. I just believe in having that connection with the families,” Weeks said. “I just love including everybody and it makes everybody happy when you see the smiles on the kids’ faces at the nighttime events, and I see how happy the parents are.”
When her oldest son was a kindergarten student at Old Kings, Weeks came up with the idea of a winter wonderland, the Polar Express.
The polar express room is always filled with tiny white lights, and doesn’t resemble a classroom at all. Teachers have teaching sessions in the room, or bring the children in to read.
Tried and true events are rotated in and out every year to keep them fresh and her students and families interested. Since she has done the Fairy Tale night two years in a row, Weeks said she will probably switch it up and do “Holidays Around the World.” She is also working on the possibility of a summer reading event.
She works with the Flagler County Kiwanis, who helped create a reading room, and the Flagler Humane Society with the Paws to Read program.
“I am always looking for new ways to keep the kids engaged and to instill the love of learning for them.”
