From teaching to turtles

Uhling, 17-year fixture at SES to retire. Plans on traveling to visit sea turtles

When school begins on August 20 for the 2018-2019 school year, the halls of Saratoga Elementary School (SES) will be missing a longtime fixture of the building. After 17 years of service in Carbon County School District (CCSD) No. 2, LeAnn Uhling retired at the end of the 2017-2018 school year. Uhling, who moved to Saratoga in 2001 with her husband Larry and two children, Michaela and Lawrence, started at SES as an aide in the kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms.

The following year, Uhling was hired as a kindergarten teacher and remained in the that position for the next 16 years. During her time as a teacher at SES, Uhling was awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching in 2010 and, in 2013, became a National Board Certified Teacher.

Her passion is for early childhood education and she has worked to instill a love of learning while also developing innovative activities to capture the attention of all students.

"I truly feel life's greatest treasures are in the mind of a child," said Uhling. "So I embodied the creative spirit of an inquiry based classroom."

Uhling also holds a degree in psychology and education from the University of Colorado and a master's degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Wyoming. Though her first teaching job was in Evanston, Wyo., the Uhling family had moved to St. George, Utah for a few years before returning to Wyoming as her father was losing his battle with cancer.

After 16 years at SES, Uhling says her decision to retire is one that is bittersweet. According to Uhling, the most rewarding years of her life were the ones spent teaching.

"I've learned the most from my students," said Uhling. "That's the beauty of teaching, there is no limit to one's growth. As a teacher, so often you find the students you've tried to inspire are the ones who end up inspiring you."

Now that Uhling is retired, she plans on traveling and pursuing other interests, including having adventures with sea turtles which she plans on returning to SES for a visit to tell the students all about.

 

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