Educator teaches kindness at Crutcho Public Schools

Ali Meyer/KFOR
·2 min read

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Inside the walls of Crutcho Public Schools, reading specialist Mrs. Lara Ross teaches young elementary students to read.

“She is phenomenal; a joy to work with, an absolute joy,” said Crutcho Dean of Students, Harvey Bethany. “Lara Ross is a phenomenal communicator. This is her first year as our reading specialist and also our administrative intern.”

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Mrs. Ross is a gift to the little ones at Crutcho, helping them through the vowels and the consonants.

For some, she is the constant at school, making sure each child loves to learn.

“My son first started pre-K at the beginning of the year, and he had a rough couple of weeks,” remembered Samantha Tilley. “But seeing Mrs. Ross and being around her made it a whole lot better for him.

Tilley nominated Mrs. Ross for her warm hugs and soft smile.

“First Fidelity Bank really loves to give back to our community and to outstanding individuals in our community,” said banker, Charle Griffin. “What we heard about Mrs. Ross is that she’s exceptional with these kids, and that really makes this a special thing for us. On behalf of First Fidelity Bank we’d like to pay it forward to Mrs. Ross.”

News 4 surprised Mrs. Ross during lunch duty.

Six years at Crutcho Public Schools and the key to Ross’ success is this: relationships.

“She builds relationships. That trust in relationships with students and not just the students that come through her reading room but from pre-k through 8th grade,” Bethany said.

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Mrs. Ross’ love of teaching started very young with her own mother.

“My mom taught for 42 years, and I’ve seen how much she impacted the students and everything.”

The families of Crutcho are thankful for all she does in the lunch room and in the reading room.

News 4 and First Fidelity Bank are proud to pay it forward to Mrs. Ross.

“This is amazing,” she said “I’m at a loss for words. This is just great.”

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