Mrs. Muhtaris' Fifth Grade Class

When I look back, I am so impressed again
with the life-giving power of literature.
If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of
myself in the world, I would do that again by reading,
just as I did when I was young.
~ Maya Angelou ~

Meet Mrs. Muhtaris

Hi, I'm Katie Muhtaris. This is me (left) at the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. This will be my fourth year at Burley School, and my third year teaching fifth grade. I feel very privileged to be able to work with such motivated and wonderful staff, students, and families. The community of learners at Burley School is like no other that I have encountered!

I have been married to my husband Konstantinos for three years and we live in Lincoln Square with our Golden Retriever, Plato. My hobbies are reading and writing, traveling, photography, bike riding, and walking my dog. We enjoy traveling to Europe in the summers and visiting our family in Greece. This is us at the Coliseum in Rome, Italy.

I enjoy teaching because it enables me to share my love of literature, science, and exploring new things. I received a bachelors in Elementary Education with a minor in Studio Art for Painting from Northeastern Illinois University. I am seeking National Board Certification and am enrolled at Roosevelt University. I am a member of the International Reading Association, The International Technology Education Association, and the Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society in Education. I have been a Rochelle Lee Boundless Readers fund winner two years in a row and have been awarded several grants from the Chicago Foundation for Education. I also work for Donors Choose.org as a Teacher Screener and have had over 40 proposals funded for technology, art supplies, and books for the classroom. In addition, I have been published in Voices From the Middle a publication by the National Council of Teachers of English. I was also lucky enough to participate in the filming last year with Stephanie Harvey and Harvey Daniels. The DVD's featuring teachers from Burley School come out in November.

Please contact me with questions or to set up an appointment.

Email: klstancati@cps.edu

Visit Classroom 2.0

In 2009 I posted a grant on Donors Choose for a class set of Greg Morten's young readers edition of Three Cups of Tea. I read his adult version and was captivated by his story and his work to bring education to the remote villages in Afghanistan. This man risked his life during the rise of the Taliban to build bridges (sometimes literally) with this part of the world. My grant was funded by many small donations from a group of people who were all associated with an organization called Kiva. I had never heard of Kiva and so I investigated wondering who these people were and why they wanted to support my classroom. I learned that Kiva is primarily a microlending organization that gives individuals and small groups of people in various countries micro loans. I had never done anything like this before and so I decided if they could donate to my cause I could certainly do without a mere $25 for a few months. My money has since been repaid and re-lended several times. I am very grateful for the gift that a group of people I've never met gave me and I hope that I have given that gift in return.