The March/April Winner of My Favorite Teacher is...

Q: What is your name and where do you teach, what grade?

A: My name is Laura Kitchen, and I am a teacher at the Alabama School for the Deaf. I am currently the sole preschool and kindergarten academic teacher for the Listening and Spoken Language Program. In this program, we provide a rich auditory language learning environment for deaf/hard of hearing students who have good auditory access to speech using their hearing aids and/or cochlear implants.

Q: How long have you been a teacher?

A: This is my eighth year teaching at Alabama School for the Deaf in the Listening and Spoken Language Program. I moved to Alabama from Niagara Falls, New York, in August 2015 to work in this amazing program. This was my first job out of college, and I have been working here ever since.

Q: Why did you want to be a teacher?

A: I have always wanted to be a teacher. Since elementary school, I would play teacher with my brother and my stuffed animals every chance I had. My passion for Deaf education didn’t come until college, but now I can’t imagine doing anything else. I love having the opportunity to change my students' lives every single day.

Q. What is your favorite thing about being a teacher, and what is the most challenging?

A. My favorite thing about teaching is making the kids laugh. My students have to work 10 times harder than the average 3- to 6-year-old, and if I can make their time at school a little bit more fun, I’m going to take every opportunity to do that. If someone were to walk into my classroom, they're probably going to see me acting silly, dancing or making jokes to make the kids laugh. Yes, the kids have to work hard, but we can have a good time doing it.

Q. Is there anything you'd like to share?

A. My husband and I grew up in Niagara Falls, New York, and moved to Alabama in 2015 for me to work at AIDB. We were married in 2017 and welcomed our son in 2019 and our daughter in 2021. When I’m not teaching, I enjoy baking sugar cookies, planning parties and being the best mom I can be to my children.

Laura has won $100 in gift cards from the Parent-Teacher Store in Hoover and Birmingham Parent. To enter your favorite teacher, visit https://birminghamparent.com/directory/my-favorite-teacher

Go to:

Visit our website and nominate your favorite teacher! www.birminghamparent.com/directory/my-favorite-teacher

We will randomly pick a winner each issue and feature them in the NEXT issue of Birmingham Parent!

That teacher will also win $100 in gift cards to spend at the Parent-Teacher Store! You'll need your teacher's first and last name, the grade(s) they teach, the name of the school and the city in which it is located. ONLY GOOD FOR ALABAMA SCHOOLS.