Alice Tallackson’s strong passion for learning, teaching, and bringing learning into the community earned her the title of Elementary Teacher of the Year within the La Porte Community School Corporation. Tallackson has been teaching for 37 years and is grateful for the recognition this title comes with.
“Even at a very young age, when I started school, I loved my teachers, and I loved learning,” Tallackson said. “It started in childhood. I always wanted to be a teacher.”
Tallackson graduated from Purdue University - West Lafayette with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She then worked at an elementary school in Peru, Indiana while studying for her master's degree in elementary education that she earned from Indiana University - Kokomo.
During this time, she met her husband and he got a job in Michigan City, so it was time to relocate. Tallackson was able to get a job working at what is now Purdue University Northwest, working with undergraduate students studying to be teachers. She taught seminars on classroom management, how to apply for grants, and supervised student teachers.
Although this was a one-year position, she explained that it was ideal because it got her out into the community and into a lot of different schools. She was able to meet lifelong friends while learning even more.
After her first year in the area, she was hired by the La Porte Community School Corporation and has been there ever since. She began teaching at Kingsbury Elementary School and eventually moved to Crichfield Elementary School because she wanted to work closer to her home while raising her son. She has taught second and first grade but currently teaches kindergarten.
“I love 5 and 6-year-olds. Everything excites them,” Tallackson said. “They love to learn, and they'll tell you often, ‘This is the best day of my life,’ and that makes me feel so excited that they love learning that much. It's highly rewarding.”
Tallackson has looked up to her former teachers, students, and colleagues for inspiration on how to make her classroom better every day. She explained that the kindergarten team she works with currently helps her to continue learning.
“Even as a teacher, you have to be learning if you're going to be the best teacher for your students,” Tallackson said. “These younger teachers really helped me grow and make my classroom better and better, not only every day but every year. Learning never stops no matter what, and it shouldn't stop. It needs to be lifelong.”
Tallackson emphasized the importance of learning and explained how many wonderful other teachers are working to provide new experiences to students. A new public-based learning (PBL) initiative has kicked off within the district.
“One of the things that has happened in the last few years has been public-based learning or PBL,” she said. “That is really where you get the kids on board as problem solvers, and you try to spark their interest in having a common goal that is not only going to help our classrooms but also help the community and maybe even the world.”
The recent PBL focus has been monarch butterflies. The North American Monarch Institute invited Tallackson and a colleague to a conference and that sparked a large interest in this almost endangered species. The teachers brought monarch caterpillars into their classrooms for the students to learn and observe their lifecycle.
“Our goal is to plant and make a pollinator garden in one corner of the kindergarten playground,” Tallackson said. “That will be a way we can help the monarchs. The students were very excited to think that, even though they're young and considered little, they were able to help this almost endangered species.”
Tallackson works hard to create the most beneficial learning environment for her students. Learning continues outside the classroom, and she provides opportunities for her students to grow and help the community while doing so.
“The students and just seeing them grow is my favorite part,” Tallackson said. “I'm here for the students. The students make it so worthwhile. Five and 6-year-olds love learning, and so do I. I'm still learning, and I learn from them too. It's been 37 years, but the students make it all worthwhile.”