Kentwood — It’s one of the first spring-like days in March and the playground outside Discovery Elementary teacher Sarah Kresnak’s classroom window is beckoning her first-graders.
There’s still a half-hour until recess, so Kresnak, who was recently named one of 10 Michigan Regional Teachers of the Year for 2025-26, refocuses distracted students when needed, recognizing those who are following directions and prepared for the next lesson. “I’m looking at my friend Carmen who’s ready,” she says.
The last 15 minutes have been filled with movement: criss-cross applesauce-ing, singing and dancing to a rambunctious song about five little monkeys swinging in a tree, and engaging in a back-and-forth chorus of “Friends, friends, friends!” and “Yes, yes, yes!”
That’s how it is in Kresnak’s room — students are active, and out-of-your-seat learning keeps them busy. She teaches, guides, encourages, corrects and makes sure students know what’s expected of them at all times.
Now it’s time for math. First-grade lingo seamlessly shifts to that of a mathematician.
“We’ve been talking about measurable attributes — things you can measure,” Kresnak reminds her students, now seated in a circle in front of her.
She has placed pictures of several animals around the classroom, and students break into groups to measure them using Base Ten blocks from foot to the top of the head, or ears in some cases.
“Five blocks for the cow,” says first-grader A’Royal Baars, as she lines up her blocks.
Before moving on to the next animal, A’Royal takes a minute to say what she likes about her teacher. “She likes super-listeners. She likes to be silly and to have fun with us.”
Adds Melanie Hernendaz-Ceron: “My favorite thing about my teacher is she is pretty, and she is fun and she is nice.”
Some days, keeping first-graders on task and engaged is a lot of work, Kresnak said.
“We take more movement breaks,” she says of the challenging days. “We have really been focusing more on building relationships. We have more snacks. Everyone is growing, and is very hungry in first grade.
“Really, it’s understanding your kids and what they need. From day one, I get to know them and what motivates them.”
‘She is a model, a standard that you would hope all teachers would look to mirror in terms of work ethic, tireless passion and sincerely loving to work with kids.’
— Discovery Principal Blair Feldkamp, praising first-grade teacher Sarah Kresnak
A Representative for the Region
As a regional Teacher of the Year, Kresnak is representing Region 3, which includes 13 counties in West Michigan. Teachers were selected following a competitive application process that began with being nominated for Michigan Teacher of the Year.
Discovery Principal Blair Feldkamp nominated Kresnak because of her devotion to each child in her class, he said.
“Sarah truly believes that every kid can learn. She is truly relentless in connecting with every one of her kids. She is a model, a standard that you would hope all teachers would look to mirror in terms of work ethic, tireless passion and sincerely loving to work with kids.”
He said Kresnak sets clear and concise expectations with her students that they learn beginning on the first day of school.
“There’s no guessing as to what happens in Sarah’s classroom,” he said.
Along with managing her classroom, Kresnak is a process champion for the social-emotional program Capturing Kids Hearts; she helps lead building-wide initiatives and is often the first to volunteer to try or model a new instructional piece, Feldkamp said.
“She is dynamic at what she has chosen as a career. She is in year 20, and she goes at it like she is in year two,” he said.
Kresnak, along with the other nine recipients, is now a finalist for Michigan’s 2025-26 Teacher of the Year award and will interview with a panel of statewide education stakeholders. The Teacher of the Year is expected to be announced in May, according to the Michigan Department of Education.
As a Regional Teacher of the Year, Kresnak will serve on the Michigan Teacher Leadership Advisory Council for 2025-26. In that role, she will share issues important to students and teachers with the MDE and provide input on state and department initiatives.
She said she plans to focus on community support of schools and the importance of social-emotional learning for all grade levels.
“One of the things I’ve been really noticing is the higher level of need that our students have, and the difference that COVID made,” she said, noting that parent and community involvement is still not back to pre-pandemic levels.
She said she would love more community groups and partnerships supporting her school.
“I want people to know that they are very welcome here,” she said.
Kresnak is also focused on community outreach as part of the Teach Michigan fellowship. She is in year two of the two-year process to earn National Board Certification.
Thanks to a Teacher
Kresnak has been teaching in Kentwood Public Schools for two decades, beginning as a Michigan State University intern at Challenger Elementary. She taught kindergarten and first grade at Meadowlawn Elementary for 12 years before taking a break to raise her children, and began teaching first grade at Discovery in 2019.
She earned her elementary teaching degree and a master’s in literacy instruction at MSU.
“I always wanted to be a teacher. When I was in third grade, I really struggled with reading and I had to go to a reading specialist. I thought it was so cool that my reading teacher could help make sense of things that were so confusing to me,” recalled Kresnak, who grew up in Harbor Springs, Michigan. “By the end of third grade, I was reading on grade level, and that made a huge impact in my opinion of school and helped me be more successful. I wanted to do that for others.”
She said she loves each year’s crew of lively first-graders and the energy they bring to the classroom.
“I love their curiosity and their excitement for all things. I love that we can sing songs and be silly and no one’s too cool for it. I love watching how much they learn and grow over the year.”
Kentwood Public Schools is the most diverse school district in Michigan, and Kresnak smiles at that fact.
“I am so proud to work here, and to work with the community and students that I have. I’ve stayed here for a long time because I love it so much.
“There’s no other place like it. (In) no other place do you get to have such a diverse classroom, not only of races and cultures and beliefs, but also all these individual students that need a lot of different things. It’s my job to figure out what they need and give it to them the best I can.
“It’s very, very rewarding.”
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