She is our January recipient of the 9Teachers Who Care award. As soon as you walk into Pavlu's classroom, you'll understand why she believes the severe needs class is a natural fit for her. Blame it on her bad habit, which is actually her greatest asset. She cannot stop laughing. "Nope, we don't have much fun in this classroom," said Pavlu sarcastically in front of a group of her student volunteers during an interview with 9NEWS. She followed the statement with about 10 seconds of non-stop laughing, which spread to almost every student in the room. "I think true learning come when kids feel comfortable, relaxed, and in an environment where they feel safe and secure," said Pavlu. "I want a place where they can be themselves without any kind of reservation." Shortly after her interview, Pavlu's special needs students started scratching at the door. They couldn't wait to get to work. "There they are!" said Pavlu, before letting loose another guffaw. As she opened the door, a group of about ten students stormed into the classroom, all greeting Pavlu with a hug or a high five. "Let's get started," she said as the students sat down at their desks, each labeled with a nametag and a picture with a beaming grin for each individual. "I want you guys to raise your hand or stand up when you answer these questions, okay?" The day's lesson was to be about an important life skill: how to bake and create hardened dough ornaments, which would eventually go to a friend or loved one as a gift. As Pavlu presented a question to the class about how to kneed dough or what temperature to bake the ornaments at, every student in the severe needs student would jump out of their seat, a raised hand lifting them high toward the ceiling. "What is the first thing we need to do?" asked Pavlu to one student. "Mix all of the ingredients together," the student answered. "Ding ding ding!" yelled Pavlu. "You are correct!" The lesson continued with a mix of cackles and "ding ding ding's," all voiced by Pavlu with a level of enthusiasm that's practically infectious. It's a level of energy that, Pavlu believes, rubs off on the students during each class period, reinforcing the day's lesson into a student's memory. Pavlu's teaching style, a laid back, laughing labor of love, has also seen huge returns. Nearly every one of her students graduates with a high school diploma, not a certificate. The severe needs students complete every graduation task as any other student at Weld Central High School. "That's part of why I have (student volunteers) do a lot of the teaching," said Pavlu. "They have to earn their diploma just like everybody else does, and I think that's imperative for these kids to be around their peers, who will tell them, 'Yes, you can do this and have the same success as we can.'" After an hour of learning about cooking, baking and preparing the ornament gifts, some of the students found a batch of leftover flour. Pavlu knew what was coming, and she couldn't wait for it to happen. "Oh this should be good," she said. "You should've seen what it was like when we had pumpkins!" After a few minutes where nobody made a move, Pavlu made the first, putting a small batch of flour in her hands before high fiving a student. "Oooooh!" Pavlu yelled as a batch of flour went in every direction. She started laughing uncontrollably at this point, which soon transformed into a friendly flour fight between the students. "Look at me, I've got flour all over my face!" said Pavlu. "Who's going to clean this up?" As the bell rang, the students continued tossing small batches of flour at one another, every student having a smile on their face. Not only had the students learned something that day, they would have an event to remember it by. "What can I say, I want the kids to be happy," said Pavlu, her face half-covered in flour. "It's moments you won't forget." And yes, just in case you were wondering, she finished off her day with another barrel of guffaws. Please join us in congratulating Luann Pavlu, our January winner of the 9Teachers Who Care award. />
