Photo: Skye Shrader, Edina Public Schools
Molly Swiderski knows student success is built on connection.
In a colorful classroom at Normandale Elementary, students were singing songs, doing math and asking questions—all in French. No hesitation. No self-consciousness. “They had no fear,” says Molly Swiderski, of the observation that changed everything for her. “I lit up.”
Swiderski was a candidate for Education Minnesota’s Minnesota Teacher of the Year award. She teaches fifth grade at Normandale, but the path to the classroom wasn’t direct. “I didn’t plan on becoming a teacher,” she says. Graduating with a French major and a business minor, she planned to travel and work in global marketing, but an internship at a public relations firm changed her mind. “I looked at every job level above me and wanted none of it,” she says. Swiderski worked as a substitute teacher to fill the gap while she figured out her next move, but her mother, a teacher, pointed out the obvious: Swiderski enjoyed it.
Twenty-two years in, Swiderski still enjoys it. “When they laugh and have fun, when they know you’re behind them—there’s nothing quite like it,” she says. Her warmth is genuine, and it forms the foundation of her pedagogy. Chris Holden, principal of Normandale Elementary, describes Swiderski as a valued teacher. “Molly sets the tone for the classroom. She is always calm and even, always intentional. That’s just who she is,” Holden says.
That sense of calm is set with purpose. “I have found that being intentional about focusing on the positive creates an upward spiral,” Swiderski says. “It feels good. They feel good. I feel good. Everyone benefits.” Cultivating a classroom environment that is welcoming, uplifting and fun requires deliberate attention and positive reinforcement. Everyone appreciates a shout out from time to time. “Telling a student they improved a skill, or saying, ‘Hey, I saw how hard you worked on that project,’ it all adds up,” she says. Setting the tone each day is something she does consciously because she knows it creates the culture she builds throughout the school year.
Teachers are always juggling new requirements, updates to standards, initiatives and a neverending to-do list, but for Swiderski, the bond she builds with her class is priority number one. “The relationship precedes learning,” she says. “I want these kids to feel welcome. I want them to feel loved. Once that foundation is in place, then we can work.” That kind of clarity reflects something fundamental about the role of a teacher, especially a fifth grade teacher. Holden says Swiderski is tuned into her students’ needs, both academic and social-emotional, and how important this is for students’ long-term success. “She keeps them connected, grounded and moving forward,” he says. Keeping learning fun and keeping kids connected is essential to their success in upper grades and beyond. “There’s a lot we can’t control,” Swiderski says, acknowledging the effect of a student’s experience outside of the classroom, “But focus on what’s right here, right now. Let’s work on that.”
Being named a Minnesota Teacher of the Year candidate, Swiderski joins a select group of professionals honored for their exceptional and lasting impact on students. More than a professional accolade, the recognition validates the often invisible work teachers do every day. For a teacher like Mme. Swiderski, as she’s known in the classroom, it’s a way for her community to do for her what she always does for her students.
Education Minnesota
Instagram: @educationminnesota
Normandale Elementary
Instagram: @edinapublicschools
