This past summer Okawville Grade School welcomed a new 4th-grade teacher, Mrs. Elizabeth Thoel. She took over for Mrs. Storey, who moved to 2nd grade.

Mrs. Thoel is married and has two boys. She used to teach kindergarten in Mascoutah School District at Wingate Elementary but decided to take the job here at Okawville because it was much closer to home for her, and she heard nothing but great things about our district.

When I spoke to Mrs. Thoel about her transition this is what she had to say, “I really like it here, everyone has been super nice and welcoming to me. I feel that I fit in really well with all the other teachers.” The difference between Mascoutah and Okawville is that Mascoutah has three different elementary schools with 20+ students in each class, where Okawville only has one school.

She described Okawville as a hometown community with a great support system and the teachers and administrators all want the same thing for their students and will work to achieve their goals. “One of my goals this year is to make connections with my students to help them succeed in their education and I am a teacher who likes to connect real-life ideas to content areas to keep students engaged” said Mrs. Thoel.  Welcome to Okawville, Mrs. Thoel!