Bronwyn Larsen is a kindergarten teacher at Coyote Trail Elementary. Larsen has been teaching for 10 years, eight years at Coyote Trail. 

Born in Tucson, Larsen moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she went to middle and high school. She says she was happy to return to Arizona to attend the UofA, in part because she says, “I decided I was done with cold winters!”

Larsen says she can pinpoint the time when she decided to become a teacher. It was her math teacher in 9th grade, Mr. Weeks, who inspired her to teach, she says.

“I hated math. I couldn’t do it,” explains Larsen. She says that this math teacher “used games, music, anything that he could get his hands on to connect with us” to make students relate to math. 

“Now it’s one of my favorite subjects, even to this day. It’s one of my favorite subjects to teach,” she says, adding, “I want to inspire others like he inspired me.”

 Larsen likes to play soccer on the weekends. Growing up, she played the cello and she says she still loves music. She also enjoys movies, and these days she watches a lot of Disney movies with her 3-year-old daughter. Her daughter likes “Moana,” but Larsen says her favorite Disney film is probably “Hercules.”

It’s not a Herculean feat for Larsen to teach. On the contrary, “This is my dream job,” she says. “I have fun.”

“Mrs. Larsen is the kindest person I ever saw!” according to student Katelynn. “She ran in the fun run with our class. She was patient with me and I feel comfortable and safe around her.” Katelynn nominated her former teacher to be Teacher of the Month.  

“Mrs. Larsen taught me to say, ‘Easy, Peasy, Lemon Squeezy,’” notes Katelynn.

Larsen doesn’t want to stress out her young students—instead she stresses to them that “Practice doesn’t make you perfect, it makes you better.”