Morris Elementary’s Blatti shows kids the value of a well-written letter

Lauren Blatti’s journey toward teaching was inspired by one of her childhood teachers, although she knew she wanted to be a teacher from a young age.

Her room now is surrounded by white boards and writing advice, reminding students of the proper format for essays and giving grammar advice, but the teacher who inspired her was Chaney-Monge math teacher Deb Thiakos.

“She became like a second mom to me,” Blatti said. “We just spent hours talking, and she really encouraged and pushed and motivated me. She was the teacher I wanted to become.”

Like her inspiration, Blatti went on to teach the class she struggled with as a child. It was after advice from her mentor that she got her to focus on language arts.

“She told me honestly that math was the subject she always struggled in,” Blatti said. “She said it made her a better teacher because she understood the struggles.”

Thiakos said she never imagined she’d inspire students so much they’d acknowledge her for it, but it’s always been her goal as a teacher.

“I want to make students feel cared about, loved and inspired to be the best they can be,” Thiakos said. “I never think about that while I’m actually teaching.”

Thiakos said Blatti always worked so hard at whatever she put her mind to, even as a child: She played sports and she was well-rounded, and she’d have never guessed Blatti didn’t care as much for math as a subject.

Blatti said she was an OK writer as a student, but it was always a struggle to understand adjectives and adverbs, and how to properly put together sentences. She agrees with her mentor: It made her a better teacher.

“Where I feel like with math, it’s black and white,” Blatti said. “Two plus two always equals four. With writing, you can be creative. There’s leeway, and that’s difficult. There’s an art to it.”

This approach leads Blatti to be creative in how she teaches her students. She wants them to embrace the challenge in the same way she did.

“By the time they get to me, they’ve had their mind made up that they love writing or they hate it, so it’s taking those kids with their made-up mind and showing them all these different options,” Blatti said.

“It’s not just writing essays,” she continued. “It’s creating children’s books and poems, or just writing a seven-word sentence that has a powerful message behind it, and opening their eyes to all these different outlets and getting them to understand its not just about writing essays in school. It’s about finding your voice and sharing that voice with people.”

Blatti said her favorite assignment she gives to students each year comes at the end of October and beginning of November, when the students sit down and write thank you letters to veterans, mailing them out for Veterans Day.

She said it’s the most impactful lesson of the year because it shows the kids how to thank veterans for their dedication, while also providing them with a chance to write a letter.

Last year, students sent out over 700 letters to not only the La Salle County Veterans Home and the veterans home in Manteno, but to veterans homes across the country, including places Alaska, New York, Florida and Texas.

“What really is amazing is the number of veterans that wrote back to thank them for the letter,” Blatti said. “I think a lot of kids have an immediate feeling of realizing how important it is, and how it’s something they should be doing.”