Belinda Omenitsch claims that the first time she thought about becoming a teacher was watching To Sir, with Love. “I wanted to be Sidney Poitier,” she explains. After 19 years in the classroom, she knows that she made the right choice. “There are not many professions where you can wear so many wonderful hats and experience the excitement of seeing a child move from struggle to success,” enthuses Mrs. Omenitsch. “Teaching gives me more than I can put into words.” Her principal, Mary Ann Stinson, shares, “She goes above and beyond, engages families in their learning, and develops writers in each of her students. Her ability to build relationships with students is evident in the number of students who reach out to her for support.”

What she loves most about her work is the opportunity to build relationships with students, families, and colleagues. Mrs. Omenitsch acknowledges that “a teacher is invited into so many lives in so many ways,” and she works hard to show her students that she cares about them on both a personal and academic level. Though she expects all of her students to meet her classroom expectations, she works to find individual pathways for each student to succeed, encouraging students to develop their own academic goals and gauge their own progress throughout the year. Mrs. Omenitsch is currently the WTU Building Representative and the ELL and Intervention Lead at Truesdell.