Levi Letsche graduated Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn in 2013. He went on to play football at Northwestern where he also took advantage of their “good education program.” He earned his undergraduate degree in Mathematics with a Secondary Education endorsement from Northwestern in 2017. He also coaches boys and girls track, discus and shot put. He began teaching high school mathematics at Sheldon High School immediately following graduation from Northwestern. He continued at Northwestern for his Masters in Educational Leadership with a Principal Endorsement. He earned that completely online in 2020. Adding to his busy schedule, Letsche coaches football in the fall at Northwestern
Letsche was drawn to mathematics because “it is a very black and white way to get to a solution.” He also credits his middle and high school teachers at MMC saying, “I always enjoyed my high school and middle school teachers.” Helping with his decision to consider teaching were some of those same teachers who approached him while in high school about going on to teach.
Letsche received email notification from the Iowa Department of Education that he had been nominated for “Teacher of the Year.” That was how he learned of the honor. He does not know who nominated him or what the nomination actually says. Letsche does enjoy interacting with the people he works with adding, “it important to grow positive relationships with the people I interact with.”
To advance in the competition, Letsche had work to do to fulfill the process. By June 1 he had to subit essays about himself, his teaching philosophy and style. His resume, a cover letter and three letters of support had to be included. All that was due to the department by June 1, 2022. He waited patiently. In early August he learned he was chosen as a finalist. He headed to Des Moines in early September for an interview at the Department of Education. About a week after the interview Letsche learned he would end the trek for “Teacher of the Year” as a finalist. The final winner was named in December.
Letsche says of the the process, “It’s lots of work. The process is extremely humbling. There are about 30,000 good educators in Iowa. In the three months I’ve had to reflect – it is very humbling. IT goes to show a lot of really good educators in Iowa are putting their berst foot forward for all of our kids everyday.”
Letsche was hopeful during the process, but says, “[All] finalists join a select group of Iowa educators to help with different teacher prep progrmas and future educators. It goes to show that the education system I grew up in from Kindergarten through senior year is setting students up for success. The support of the community is setting up students for success outside the walls of the school.” He adds that he would like to give a shout out to the teacher prep program at Northwestern and all the mentors he’s had through his short years in education.
Letsche is not certain of his future plans. “We’ll see what the future entails,” he said to wrap up where he has been as a teacher, so far and where he is heading.