Kendra Dulin is a third-grade teacher at Madison Heights Elementary. She teaches in English in the school’s 50/50 Spanish Immersion program and, according to her students, she makes learning fun!
Dulin says her students might be surprised to learn that she did not like math when she was in school. She says her favorite subject was writing and she remembers math lessons being confusing.
“That’s one of the reasons I really love teaching it (math),” says Dulin. Her students report that she does a good job making math make sense!
Student Avery, who was in Dulin’s class last year, writes, “She is so funny and so kind and always helps everyone.”
Dulin says that she “kind of always have known” that teaching was her calling. “My first-grade teacher made a huge impact on me,” she explains. Between that and her love of children, Dulin says becoming a teacher “seemed natural.”
Dulin is originally from Connecticut, and moved to Arizona with her family when she was in sixth grade. She began her 20th year of teaching this year. She taught in the Washington Elementary School District for 12 years before coming to Madison Heights Elementary.
When she is not in the classroom, Dulin enjoys spending time with her family—her husband, 11-year-old son and black lab. She says they enjoy traveling and take a road trip each summer. This summer they went to Florida.
They love to go camping, too, especially in northern Arizona. Dulin likes to get outdoors and go hiking or biking. She says she is pretty adventurous. She has been skydiving! But don’t expect her to go swimming with sharks. “I don’t like sharks,” she says.
In quieter moments, Dulin likes to watch movies or do some writing. She says that her love of writing has continued from her school days.
“I would like to become a published author,” she reports.
“We laugh a lot in my classroom,” says Dulin. She says her students like to tease her sometimes, and she takes it in stride.
Dulin likes to remind her students to always try new things and not to worry or get discouraged about making mistakes.
“It’s not okay to not try,” she says. “Trying and not succeeding is part of the process of learning.”
