It is an honor to be recognized for inspiring children to discover and pursue answers to their natural curiosities. Receiving this prestigious award has validated the effort, passion, and commitment I have invested over the years in all of my students. I have worked diligently to rouse children to be critical thinkers of the 21st century. I hope my love of learning has made a difference by motivating students to be lifelong learners, forever asking questions and making eye-opening discoveries.

Lori Farkash Wallingford, CT | K-6, Science, 2010

The official biography below was current at the time of the award.

Lori Farkash has been an educator for more than 20 years and has taught first through fifth grade. She is teaching second grade at Moses Y. Beach Elementary School in Wallingford, CT. Lori’s love of teaching goes beyond the classroom. She demonstrates strong leadership skills by presenting professional development on inquiry science, effective teaching strategies, and data teams, just to name a few. Lori helped develop curricula and assisted in the creation of districtwide common formative assessments in mathematics, reading, and science. Lori was honored by her peers when she received the Wallingford Teacher of the Year award in 1999. Lori engages students in exciting lessons that promote conceptual understanding. Students cooperatively pursued solutions to environmental changes that disrupt food chains and were inspired to think about organics to maintain an ecological balance. They created compost piles, gardens, and worm bins as a result of investigating relationships in ecosystems. Lori has a B.S. in elementary education from the University of Rhode Island, an M.S. in elementary education from Southern Connecticut State University, and an M.A. in learning from Sacred Heart University. She is a prekindergarten through sixth grade certified elementary school teacher.

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