Teacher Appreciation Week – Mr. Kayser

Educators Credit Union values teachers year-round, but we are putting some local teachers under the spotlight during Teacher Appreciation Week. Today we are celebrating Alexander Kayser, a teacher at SC Johnson Elementary School.

Mr. Kayser grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin and went to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for his degree in Music Education. He then completed his student teaching in West Allis and Racine. Now he’s been teaching music for six years to students in 4K all the way to 5th graders.

It seems to be a good fit, as Mr. Kayser is passionate about introducing students to the world of music.

“I love being able to make music and be creative with my students every day and provide them with a positive and safe outlet to express their emotions, talents, and interests,” Mr. Kayser said. “It’s just so much fun!”

When asking Mr. Kayser what the most challenging part of teaching is for him, he said that it’s trying to make an impact on every student that walks through the door.

“It’s not always easy, but it’s always worth it!” said Mr. Kayser.

It’s especially worthwhile when he gets to watch the students smile and have fun while performing.

“Whether they are singing for their families at our annual holiday concert, acting in our 5th-grade musical production, or rocking on the instruments in the classroom, it’s incredibly rewarding to see their hard work pay off as they share their musical talents.”

Mr. Kayser has quite the list of “thank yous” when it comes to recognizing the people who gave him his passion for teaching.

“Honestly, if I named all of the teachers that inspired me, it would be pages long. I’ve been lucky to have a lot of inspirational and supportive teachers throughout my entire life, which is exactly why I wanted to become a teacher.”

Mr. Kayser also appreciates his local credit union. He said every trip to Educators is a positive one.

“The staff is always super friendly and helpful,” Mr. Kayser said. “Also, the Educators app makes managing my finances super easy amidst my busy schedule!”

Educators Credit Union encourages you to reach out to your teachers and thank them for all that they do. If you are looking for a creative way to show your teachers appreciation, head over to the Educators’ Pinterest page and check out the teacher appreciation board.

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Teacher Appreciation Week – Ms. Dryer

Today we are celebrating Educators member and teacher, Ms. Lisa Dryer. Ms. Dryer is a veteran teacher of 18 years at Christian Life High School in Kenosha. I actually had the pleasure of being a student in Ms. Dryer’s Biology class my freshmen year at CLS!

Ms. Dryer began with receiving her degree in Sports Medicine and Athletic Training from Trinity International University. Little did she know that teaching would become her passion! During her senior year, she realized that she wanted to teach while interning at Mundelein High School in Illinois. Ms. Dryer said she loved teaching the teenagers in her training room about different exercises but couldn’t handle the stress during emergency situations. Although she knew she wanted to become a teacher, she wasn’t able to switch her degree so late into her senior year. Luckily, “back in the day,” you didn’t have to have a degree in teaching to become a teacher, so she worked in a few different high schools in New Hampshire before starting at CLS. Now she’s almost on her second decade of teaching Anatomy, Physiology, Food Science, Biology and Honors Biology to high school students.

Even after 18 years, Ms. Dryer still has challenges to overcome in the classroom.

“These days, I think it’s keeping kids engaged,” she said. “Sometimes it feels like I literally have to do a song or dance every day to keep their focus and keep them interested.”

Ms. Dryer isn’t afraid to branch out with new teaching techniques or learning different ways to keep their attention, but it definitely keeps her on her toes.

“You have to learn to enjoy coming up with new ideas. You can’t keep doing the same thing every time.”

The good always outweighs the bad, though. Her favorite part of teaching is the relationships she develops with “these mini adults.”

“Okay, okay they aren’t really mini but they are semi-adults, and you can have great conversations with them and get to know them.”

She’s passionate about developing working relationships with the students because it leads to watching them progress and become nurses, doctors or medical professionals.

“It’s nice to know that I may have had a little something to do with that. Obviously, they do all the work, but I had a little part in that because I helped guide them there!”

Her most celebrated success in teaching can’t be narrowed down to one instance. It encompasses the years of watching the students she taught enter the professional world of medicine. To her, that’s a success because they survived high school, did well in college and become a productive citizen. But there are little moments she enjoys too.

“I love when my students enjoy science,” Ms. Dryer said. “When kids leave my classroom and go ‘Wow! That went by so fast!’, that’s awesome.”

When asking about Ms. Dryer’s favorite part about being an Educators Credit Union member, she said, “Every time I have encountered fraud, they have been so helpful.” She said she loved how fast, smooth and professionally everything was taken care of to help resolve the problem.

Educators Credit Union encourages you to reach out to your teachers and thank them for all that they do. If you are looking for a creative way to show your teachers appreciation, head over to the Educators’ Pinterest page and check out the teacher appreciation board.

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Teacher Appreciation Week – Ms. Mazzolini

Educators Credit Union values teachers. In order to honor teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week, we interviewed teachers from our area to get to know them a little bit better. On deck today is Niki Mazzolini, who is in her first full year of teaching at Indian Trail High School and Academy.

Ms. Mazzolini got her degree in English with a secondary education license from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. She is certified to teach grades 6-12 in English. She started student teaching at Indiana Trail High School and Academy and is now running her very own classroom. ITHSA is broken up into comprehensive and academy students, where Ms. Mazzolini is currently teaching a World Literature class for the Sophomore academy students and Survey of Literature for Freshmen.

When asked if she enjoys teaching the younger high school students she said, “Yeah! I think it’s fun. They are at a fun age. When the Freshmen come in, they are seeing what it’s all about and trying to find to find themselves. It’s cool with the Freshmen because you can still be goofy with them and have a lot of fun in the classroom.”

Ms. Mazzolini loves that teaching is different every day. She enjoys the flexibility of being able to apply different learning techniques to her lessons. She loves that her students are so all so different and come from different backgrounds because it brings so much engagement and diversity in the classroom. Even though she teaches the same lessons throughout the day, every class is different because the students all learn in unique ways.

“As a first year teacher, my biggest challenge is time management,” says Ms. Mazzolini when asked what challenges she faces in her job. “I’m planning all my lessons, meeting with students, meeting with parents, meeting with staff, constantly grading and I’m the sophomore class advisor, so it’s difficult to find a balance between my personal time and teaching time.”

She said that now she is in the fourth quarter, she has finally found a balance between her school life and her personal life.

Ms. Mazzolini’s face lit up when she asked who inspired her to become a teacher.

“I have two actually!” she said. “Annie Grugel and Suzanne Swiderski are both from the education program at UW-Parkside. I think I connected with both of them so well because they really dove into my personal experience at UW-Parkside.”

Ms. Mazzolini says both were so caring and really gave her the tools to become a successful teacher. Even now, they still check in with her to see how she’s doing.

Although it’s Ms. Mazzolini’s first full year of teaching, she has already had a lot of success in her career. “It’s really hard to try and fit each lesson to every individual student since everyone learns differently. But having worked through that, I have students that will come up to me and thank me for caring about them and working with them to be successful students. It’s really rewarding to hear them say. ‘Oh! I get it now!’”

Educators Credit Union encourages you to reach out to your teachers and thank them for all that they do. If you are looking for a creative way to show your teachers appreciation, head over to the Educators Pinterest page and check out the teacher appreciation board.

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Something New at Newman

Have you walked into Educators’ Newman branch lately? Then you have definitely noticed a change. There’s new carpet, new colors, new furniture and more is on the way!

It’s been a long time since Newman had seen a touch-up, but this renovation is about more than just updating the layout. Here are some of the benefits you’ll see at Newman now and in the future:

• A closer greeter station for quicker solutions. Previously, the greeter station was a bit of a walk from the entryway, making it hard to know where to go to get service. Now, our friendly greeters are placed at the door to welcome you and help guide you to the services you’re looking for. This will also save you time you would otherwise spend waiting in line.
• No more writing stations for better service. In the days of writing your transactions down on a piece of paper, tellers were taking an order rather than providing a service. This opens the door to having a conversation with your teller about what you are trying to get out of your transaction and can help give you more personalized service.
• More technology for your convenience. When the remodel is complete, members will have access to a full tech bar to use our mobile and online services. This is great for users who don’t have access at home or might need a little help using these digital tools.

We hope you enjoy the new look and improved flow at Newman. This is part of a process to help make our branches an even better resource for the needs of our members. Of course, it’s changing visually, but it’s still the same great branch, the same caring people and that familiar first-class service. Watch for more changes like this at our other Educators branches.

What has been your favorite part of the update? What are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below!

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Educators Credit Union Sponsors Customized Harley for the UWM Scholarship Fund

Educators Credit Union is teaming up with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Athletics Department to fund higher education. The Athletics Department is raffling off a 2011 decommissioned Harley-Davidson police cruiser at the Panthers baseball game against Wright State on May 12. The bike was donated by the House of Harley-Davidson, with about 31,000 miles on it.

The creativity doesn’t stop there. The UWM Athletics Department joined with the Peck School to generate scholarship funds for UWM. The Peck School held an arts call open to undergraduate and graduate Art and Design students to design the motorcycle. The theme for the design was service and community in Milwaukee.

Graduate student Amber Van Galder was chosen by the judges to customize the motorcycle. The motorcycle will be on display all throughout Milwaukee until the big game. It will be at the House of Harley-Davidson, our Educators Prospect branch, at Peck’s Kenilworth East Gallery, until finally ending at Miller Park for the game.

The public can buy tickets for the raffle ahead of the Panther Tailgate at Miller Park on May 12. You do not have to be present to win. Tickets are priced at: $25 for one, $50 for three and $100 for eight. They will accept cash, check or credit card. Checks should be made out to the UWM Foundation. If you would like to purchase tickets, you can call the UWM Athletics ticket office at 414.229.5886 or stop by the House of Harley’s Milwaukee location at 6221 W. Layton Avenue.

Before and after of the bike:

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Gain more on your savings with Educators Credit Union!

Starting today, you can earn more on your savings with the Educators 15-month Share Certificate Special.

Here’s how it works:

• Open the special share with a $500 minimum deposit.
• Save over 15-months at a 1.75% APY*.
• Points for Perks cannot be used to increase the rate of this special share.

Visit any Educators branch or call 262.886.5900 to open this special share today!

This special share cannot be combined with other offers.
Penalties and other restrictions may apply for early withdrawal.
When your certificate matures, it will be deposited into your Prime Share savings. This special share certificate cannot be renewed.
*APY = Annual Percentage Yield

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May Member Focus

This month’s Member Focus is here! In May, we’re talking about 2018 Shred Days, estate planning and Reality Check Days. Read it here.

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