A Valpo Life in the Spotlight: Rachel Bontrager

Rachel Bontrager knew from a young age that she wanted to spend her life helping people. As she grew up, she was drawn to education, but she didn’t know exactly what that would look like for her.

“I went to Western Michigan University. I thought I wanted to do speech pathology and be a speech therapist, and maybe work in a school,” Bontrager said. “Then I decided that that wasn’t for me. So I switched my major to elementary education.”

Bontrager still wasn’t completely sure she wanted to teach elementary school, but she enjoyed the process of learning all the work that goes into teaching. Her doubt was never whether she wanted to be an educator, but rather what age range or specialty she wanted to concentrate on.

“When I had my first interaction with those little kids, I said ‘Yep, this is it,’” Bontrager said.

Bontrager now teaches first grade at Porter Lakes Elementary School. In her classroom, she puts an emphasis on teaching students valuable lessons outside of just their basic academic requirements.

“I want them to learn how to be self-motivated, especially in knowing what is expected of them,” Bontrager said. “When they know what’s expected of them by parents and teachers, they can learn to expect that out of themselves down the road. They can learn to do their homework without being asked, for example. I also want them to learn to see things from perspectives outside of their own.”

Another valuable skill Bontrager is teaching her students is to communicate through American Sign Language (ASL). Bontrager learned ASL while studying speech pathology, and she loves that she can share what she learned with her students to give them yet another way of communicating.

“They can use ASL in the classroom in so many ways,” Bontrager said. “They can sign that they’d like to use the bathroom, because then it’s not disruptive. They sign it and I can just give them a nod, and then they go. We can carry on different interactions like that. Sometimes, the vocabulary words they are learning are easy, so I can have them learn in ASL to challenge them a little more. I use it a lot. I have the ASL alphabet in my room. Sometimes, kids will spell the words that we’re working on, or just spell their name in sign language, which is really cool.”

There are many people like Bontrager who are not sure in what way they would like to work in education, so she has some advice for those who might be unsure which path to choose – above all, she believes that someone who wants to be a teacher should first understand their own teaching style before choosing where it might fit best into a classroom setting.

“When you figure out your style of teaching, you can teach them more than just a curriculum,” Bontrager said. “You can teach them maturity or help them grow up. You’re not just teaching them for a year. You’re building relationships with them. Sometimes, I see a third grader that I had in first grade and I’m like, ‘Okay, I had a hand in that. I had a part in setting them up for their own success.’ You impact these kids longer than you think. I’ll see one of the older kids come up and tell me something that they remember from their time in my classroom.”

Bontrager also emphasizes that being a teacher is a day-to-day action. She knows that some days, even when she might feel less energetic or upbeat, she has a responsibility to lead her classroom and make sure every student feels seen and heard. She credits the first grade team at Porter Lakes Elementary for their support and guidance as she has found her place doing what she loves.

Outside of teaching, Bontrager also has a passion for coaching volleyball. She enjoys reading, and she spends as much time as she can with her family, including with her sister who is a preschool teacher in the same building in which she works.

“I think the most important thing to me as a teacher is student success,” Bontrager said. “We might not see it right away, and sometimes that can be hard. When we don’t give up on our students, they learn not to give up on themselves, and then they succeed. Even more important than academic achievement is seeing them excel personally, or seeing how they grow. It’s good to know you don’t have to be perfect to have an impact. It makes me proud of what I do.”

For more information on Porter Lakes Elementary School, visit ple.ptsc.k12.in.us.