Ashley Korchmaros teaches fourth grade at Acacia Elementary. She has been there for two years after teaching sixth- and seventh-grade math for a year and a half.
The Tucson native has “done a lot of different things,” she says, but she started teaching when she decided that “I really wanted a job that was meaningful.”
Korchmaros studied interior design in college and worked for an attorney service prior to teaching, she says. She did not like the feeling that she was ruining someone’s day, which she had when she was working for the attorney service.
“I wanted to go home exhausted, but knowing I had (made a positive impact),” explains Korchmaros.
She says that math is her favorite subject—now and when she was in school. In her spare time she likes to read, but she says there is not a lot of spare time. She hopes to get some reading done over the summer.
Korchmaros also enjoys shopping, movies—mostly comedies—and binge-watching good TV shows.
She was nominated by two of her students. Lilyanna and Jamie, who note that their teacher is awesome and tolerant. Jamie writes, “She teaches a good science, reading and math lesson each and every day,” and adds, “She is the best.”
Jamie also likes the way that her teacher helps students with essays. Korchmaros says she likes to break up an essay that is already written and have students piece it together to learn about structure. She also advises them to have a plan before they write anything down.
“They’ll be more fluent with their ideas” when they have a good grasp on writing structure and have a plan ahead of time, explains Korchmaros.
“She is very kind and has an awesome attitude all the time,’” notes Lilyanna.
