Roemer honored as BCSD Employee of the Month

It’s a great honor to recognize the incredibly talented and dedicated Mrs. Tracy Roemer as Boundary County School District’s Certified Employee of the Month. Mrs. Roemer has worked at Mt. Hall Elementary for the past four years. In her time at Mt. Hall, she has taught second grade for two years before making the jump to third. In her four years, Mrs. Roemer has made a tremendous impact in both grade levels and our school.

This past year, Mrs. Roemer took on additional roles besides classroom teacher that had a real positive effect on our students. She led the 4th and 5th graders in the first year of our Robotics. Any Robotics leader can tell you how much time and effort goes into it. Our team, the Mt. Hall Wildbots, worked hard all fall on the challenge. Mrs. Roemer’s leadership made our first year successful, and we are excited to continue our Robotics program next year. Her other role outside of the classroom was leading our school in PBIS. Each month students are recognized for good behavior with a celebration designed by students. This is a day that all of the Wildcats look forward to, and one that takes a lot of planning and preparation. These celebrations are really motivating for students, and help them keep on track with their behavior. Mrs. Roemer does an excellent job planning these events.

Aside from PBIS, Mrs. Roemer has a way of motivating kids. In school-wide competitions, Mrs. Roemer is able to rally her class and strategize with them ways to dominate the other grades. Third grade dominated the food drive this year, and came in a close second to 5th grade during our penny war competition. Mrs. Roemer is also able to do this with academics. Before the stay-home order, Mrs. Roemer was always challenging her class to do their best in anything they did. Her students were really excited about learning their multiplication facts this year, and they proudly displayed and contributed to a large multiplication chart in the hallway. Mrs. Roemer’s class also scored really well on our monthly reading and math assessments. Her students were not only prepared, but excited to take these assessments each month and see their growth. A big part of their excitement is the culture Mrs. Roemer sets when students are in her class.

Over a month into virtual teaching, it’s apparent that Mrs. Roemer still cares deeply for her students. I asked Chace and Emmy Winkelseth if they had anything to say about Mrs. Roemer. Chace, a former student, said, “I think Mrs. Roemer is AMAZING, because she is fun to be around, and you can tell that she really cares about every single student.” Emmy, a current student, said, “I think that Mrs. Roemer is the nicest teacher ever! She is so funny that if I’m having a bad day she is always there to make me smile!” Mrs. Roemer really does go above and beyond, and she knows that school is much more important than test scores. Mrs. Roemer checks in on her students and their families, and really tries to support them in the best way she can.

In her spare time, Mrs. Roemer enjoys spending time with her family — husband, Wes, and daughters, Sofie, CeCe and Gia. When asked about how they felt about their mom as a teacher, the girls said, “Mom is a funny and kind teacher and they are proud of the time and effort she put in to make her classroom cool at Mt. Hall.” Many students would agree with them, Mrs. Roemer does have one of the coolest rooms! Wes said, “[He’s] proud that Tracy is a Teacher and has had the opportunity to educate and lead the current generation of children at Mt. Hall.” Mt. Hall has been blessed to have such a wonderful and dedicated teacher. Thank you, Mrs. Roemer. You make Mt. Hall a great place for students to learn, play and grow. Go Mrs. Roemer and go Wildcats!

Lisa Iverson is Mt. Hall Elementary principal, Title 1 director, and Migrant & LEP director.