Brown Deer KinderCare teacher surprised with educator award

BROWN DEER (WITI) -- Brown Deer KinderCare teacher Bonnie Seefeldt was surprised on Wednesday, October 9th with a $10,000 check and the Knowledge Universe Early Childhood Educator Award.

Runny noses. Screaming kids. Tripping over toys. Seefeldt has made a career out of it for almost 30 years. She deserves a medal!  But on Wednesday, she got something even better, and FOX6 was in on the surprise.

Bonnie teaches four-year olds at the KinderCare in Brown Deer. All day long, Seefeldt counts heads and cajoles kids.

“Let’s hang up our coats and bring our friends back to the carpet,” she said as she corralled the kids inside for story time on Wednesday.

She’s in the business of keeping children entertained. A laugh is worth a million bucks. So is a good book.

FOX6 News watched as she read the kids a story about a lion.

“What do you think this lion said?” she asked the kids.

One little girl answered, “ROOOOAAARRRR.”

“Whoa!” Bonnie responded.  “There’s a good roar.   Can everybody roar?”

Pretty soon, all the four-year olds were roaring like little lions. Just another day in the life of Bonnie Seefeldt!    She’s been molding little minds for 28 years.

After reading the book about the lion, Seefeldt was asked to read another book to the children, as a FOX6 camera was rolling in the room.

Seefeldt assumed that she was part of an educational video.  Little did she know, the book she was about to read, was about her.

“One day, this teacher was given an award,” Bonnie read aloud to the children.    As soon as she read the line, she stopped her in her tracks.   She became overcome with emotion and put her hand on her heart.   She eventually asked another woman to take over reading duties.   The other woman informed Seefeldt that she had just won the “Knowledge Universe Educator Award.”

Seefeldt not only got a shock, she got a check for $10,000!

One of the first things she did was call her son, Nate, who lives in Minnesota.   The two are very close.

Seefeldt described the conversation for FOX6 News afterward by saying, “I screamed!  I said, ‘Nate, I won! I won!  I won!’”

Seefeldt was also given a bouquet of flowers and hugs from many of the children.

The Knowledge Universe® annual Early Childhood Educator Award recognizes teachers across the country who demonstrate exceptional skills in teaching young children.