Henrico's Top Teachers – Laurie Koth, Wilder MS

Laurie Koth’s first career was in banking, but her most rewarding one has been in the classroom.

Koth left the financial world to raise her children, then decided when she was ready to re-enter the working world that she should try something different – and something she felt was meaningful. She’d been an English major in college, and the thought of teaching the subject suddenly appealed.

To hear her eighth-grade English students at Wilder Middle School tell it, she made the right choice.

“Ms. Koth is an amazing teacher,” wrote one student in her nomination of Koth as a top teacher. “Not only is she thoughtful and considerate of her students’ learning habits as well as their feelings and opinions, but she goes above and beyond to make sure we have all of the resources we need to be comfortable. She has such a kind soul and provides a safe space for all of her students. I don’t think I’ve ever had a favorite teacher, but if I had to choose it would be her.

“While making sure her students are doing everything they can to learn and develop the skills needed for her class, she sees those struggling in different ways and makes it as easy as possible on those who need it. She deserves this award because she has immense love and care for all of her students and has proven that her purpose in life is to teach and care for those around her.”

Koth is in her second year at Wilder, following stints in Dinwiddie and Maryland. The key to connecting with her students is simple, she said: Learn about each one of them.

“The more you know about them, the more you can tap into their interests,” she said. “If they’re more comfortable, they’re more likely to tell you about the help they need.”

The more interested students are in a topic, the more they engage with it – and engagement, she said, begets critical thinking.

“I think we know more from research now that what kids need to be motivated is to feel confident like they can do something and autonomous like they have a choice – and connected,” she said.

Her students suggest that she’s fostered such motivated, confident connections in many of them.

Koth “has helped me and many of my other classmates feel more welcome after the pandemic and helped us bond together so that school is a little easier to deal with,” one wrote.

Wrote a third of Koth: “Literally the goat [greatest of all time]. Cares about her students, respects the nonbinary and transgender kids’ pronouns. . . tries to make work as fun as possible.”