GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Kentwood elementary teacher Sarah Kresnak said she’s motivated every day by an opportunity to watch her first-grade students learn to read.

In her 20th year as an educator, she teaches at Discovery Elementary School, part of the Kentwood Public Schools district.

Kresnak has spent the entirety of her education career with Kentwood Public Schools, starting as a Michigan State University intern at the district’s Challenger Elementary. She’s taught full time with the district since 2005.

She said seeing her hard work pay off has been incredibly fulfilling. For the 2025-26 school year, Kresnak was selected as one of the state of Michigan’s 10 Regional Teachers of the Year.

But the biggest reward, she said, is getting to work with her students every day.

“I’m here every day because of them,” she said. “They make it the best job.”

The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) named Kresnak as one of 10 regional honorees in late February for the year 2025-26. She was named Teacher of the Year for Region 3, which includes an area of West Michigan that encompasses 13 counties, from Mason, Lake and Osceola counties in the north to Allegan and Barry counties in southwest Michigan.

Kresnak is a Kent County educator, one of 693 teachers in the Kentwood Public Schools district serving 9,639 students as of the 2025-26 school year.

This school district has the highest graduation rate in the Grand Rapids area

The 10 teachers were selected through a competitive application process that began with student, staff and community member nominations. They are finalists to be Michigan’s Teacher of the Year.

Together, they make up the Michigan Teacher Leadership Advisory Council, working with MDE to provide education policy input and taking back information to their regions.

“The Regional Teachers of the Year are selected from among Michigan’s many outstanding educators who play such an important role in student learning,” State Superintendent Michael Rice said in a statement. “Regional Teachers of the Year also elevate the voices of teachers by sharing their experiences and valuable insight with our department and the State Board of Education.”

Kresnak said the experience that brings her the most joy is teaching her first-graders how to read.

“They come in just starting to know how to read,” she said. “I feel incredibly fortunate that I get the opportunity to see all the lightbulbs pop on at different times.”

“The coolest part is that it breeds excitement. One child will get it, and there will be this domino effect of excitement for other friends as they understand it.”

The biggest challenge throughout this process is helping reluctant students find the motivation to learn to read, she said.

“We have a lot of mottos that I use to motivate kids who might take a little longer, like ‘everyone reads at different speeds’ or ‘fast doesn’t always mean great.’”

Kresnak said finding silly things to help students, like printing off pictures of celebrities and adding speech bubbles to their faces, is a fun part of her job that also makes a difference.

One of the biggest lessons she’s learned in teaching is to look at student behavior as communication. Really getting to know students is important to understand them and their needs.

Kentwood Public Schools Superintendent Kevin Polston said the district is proud of Kresnak’s accomplishment as Region 3 Teacher of the Year.

“This honor reflects the everyday excellence she exudes in her classroom by fostering meaningful relationships with students and families and delivering rigorous learning experiences to help our students achieve at the highest levels,” he said. “Additionally, her innate belief in the potential of our kids sets her apart.

“We couldn’t be more delighted for Sarah, Discovery Elementary School, and the entire Kentwood community as we celebrate this well-deserved recognition,” Polston added.

Kresnak said working at Kentwood is a unique and valuable experience because the district has such a diverse student population, and “it’s really incredible to see all of the diversity and the value that each family brings to our school and to our classroom community.”

Regional Teachers of the Year go on to interview with a panel of statewide education stakeholders before one person is selected for the 2025-26 Michigan Teacher of the Year.

The selected teacher has a non-voting seat on the state’s Board of Education, also representing the state across the country and becoming a candidate for National Teacher of the Year.

Kresnak said her goal with this larger platform is to shine a light on district achievements and try to involve the community more in elementary programming.

Other Regional Teachers of the Year include:

• Region 1: Susan Solomon, an elementary teacher at JKL Bahweting Anishnabe Public School Academy in Sault Ste. Marie.
• Region 2: Thomas Schultz, a science teacher at Charlevoix Middle/High School in Charlevoix Public Schools.
• Region 4: Heather Wolf, a social studies teacher at Shepherd High School in Shepherd Public Schools.
• Region 5: Corey Rosser, a social studies teacher at Quest High School in North Branch Area Schools.
• Region 6: Becky Manore, a Spanish teacher at Grand Ledge High School in Grand Ledge Public Schools.
• Region 7: Lindsey Cook, an elementary teacher at Sonoma Elementary School in Harper Creek Community Schools.
• Region 8: Deidra LaPointe, an elementary teacher at Luther C. Klager Elementary School in Manchester Community Schools.
• Region 9: Stephanie Jaskolski, an English language arts teacher at Woodhaven Upper Elementary in Woodhaven-Brownstown School District.
• Region 10: Susan Kelsey-Brewton, a science teacher at Hope Academy in Detroit.

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