Teaching Is All in the Family for Vequist

Michelle Vequist teaches third grade at Canyon Rim Elementary. She has been teaching for 20 years. She has also taught fourth grade and first grade.

The vocation for education runs in the family for Vequist—her daughter teaches at the same elementary school and her mother was also a teacher. 

According to Vequist, “I always looked up to my Mom. I would play teacher with my two younger brothers at home, even assigning them homework.”

Vequist grew up in Southern California. She says that growing up, she loved reading and playing softball. Her dad’s job brought the family to Arizona when she was 12. When she was a student, Vequist says her favorite subjects were reading and spelling.

“I still remember my first grade teacher, Mrs. Miles, who taught me how to read. I think becoming a proficient reader made me a great speller. I was even part of my school’s spelling bee in third grade,” she says. 

These days, Vequist loves teaching math. “Although, I myself was not a strong student in math growing up, I was determined and never gave up when I came across a problem I could not solve,” reports Vequist. “I enjoy teaching students multiple strategies to solve problems, and I love when I see the moment it clicks for them and they realize what they accomplished.”

Vequist encourages her students to adopt a growth mindset in all their subjects. “I make sure my students know that they are all capable of doing great things—they might not know something right away, but with practice they are capable of anything, notes Vequist.  

In her spare time, Vequist enjoys drinking coffee (hot or iced), reading, cooking, swimming and taking road trips with her husband and daughter. 

Vequist says that she loves living near the Superstition Mountains, but she does not love the occasional scorpion that makes its way into her classroom. 

“I tell my kiddos that if they spot a scorpion in the classroom they can yell, ‘SCORPION!’” reports Vequist.