LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Kentasha McMorris was nominated by a group of third and fourth grade students.

At KIPP Unity, students are known as the Unicorns. For students, Mrs. McMorris is their Unicorn. Every day, she demonstrates the school values of Love, Achieve, Explore and Dream.

Love - Mrs. McMorris is always smiling and giving hugs to all of the students. She talks to them about school, home and fun stuff. Mrs. McMorris is the pom squad coach . She spends a lot of time with the pom squad and even takes them to competitions. She goes above and beyond for all of her students. Mrs. McMorris helps students at school who need help at home. She gets them uniforms, food and Christmas gifts. It makes them so happy!

When Mrs. McMorris was a kindergarten teacher, she would challenge her students and teach them to do their best, even when they made mistakes. She's always smiling and dancing, and she makes her students love school.

"My mom says that love is when you would do anything to make people happy," said a student. "We think Mrs. McMorris loves us a lot because she is always doing things to make us happy."

Achieve - Mrs. McMorris has pictures in her office of when she was a little KIPPster, just like her students. She went to high school and college, and eventually, she graduated with her Master's.

"When we see her picture, we think it's cool because it shows that we can achieve anything we want to," said a student. "My parents told me that Mrs. McMorris is a role model. She was once in our same spot and has done the work. This makes me want to work hard, make Mrs. McMorris proud, and come back to teach at our school like she did. Mrs. McMorris is the best and helps us achieve to be be like her.

Explore - Mrs. McMorris is always coming up with creative ways for students to learn, fun school dress-up days, and unique experiences.

"When we went to our first dance competition, we were scared," said a student. "Mrs. McMorris told us that we were exploring a new world, and that once the fear went away, we may find something new and exciting. She was right! We won the competition, and now, we all love to dance in performances."

Dream - "If I had a dream come true, it would be for Mrs. McMorris to win a trophy," said a student. "When we won at competition, she told us that the trophy was for us and our hard work. I think that she deserves a trophy just for her and her hard work. She dreamed of coming back to help little KIPPsters, and she is still doing it. She told us the other day that she has been a BIG KIPPster for 8 years but has been a KIPPster for 22 years."