Kempiak Family

While we were in Arizona, I had the privilege of doing family portraits for the Kempiak family. What an amazing experience! Kymberly, the mom of this cute family, was Nate's 4th grade teacher -- his favorite elementary school teacher, by the way. :)

Kymberly is one of those people who truly possesses a gift when it comes to teaching. Her students knew without a doubt that she loved them and wanted them to succeed -- that she expected them to succeed. She challenged her students to do their very best and encouraged and supported them along the way. When I volunteered in her classroom, I was in awe of the way she operated.

The year Nate was in her class, he had to have eye surgery, and I remember how excited he was when Mrs. Kempiak came to our house to visit him when he came home from the hospital. She always went out of her way to do things to let her students know how important they were to her.

In 4th grade, the students learned about map making, and each of them had to draw a map and give instructions to their homes. Mrs. Kempiak then followed each student's map to his or her house....and if she was successful in following the directions, she left a treat at the doorstep. Just another example of her amazing skills as a teacher.

Years after Nate and his classmates had moved on from Mrs. Kempiak's class, she sent all of them a letter congratulating them on their graduation from high school. She included each of their names and talked about the fun and challenging things they had done together in 4th grade.

Although we moved away from Arizona just a couple of days after Nate finished 4th grade, I've kept in touch with Kymberly through Christmas cards..and more recently, Facebook. It was so fun to see her after all this time and to take pictures of her family.

The saying "To Teach is To Touch Lives Forever" was written with teachers like Kymberly Kempiak in mind, I am certain!

Here are some shots of the awesome Kempiak family.
:)