Cara Kaiser is an erudite educator who strongly advocates cooperative learning and focuses on building relationships with students, parents, colleagues and community members. She teaches English language arts with the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) at Lester Middle School, Okinawa, Japan. With 25 years of teaching experience, she has taught reading, learning strategies, Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) and music. Kaiser also holds various leadership roles, including membership on the DoDEA Pacific South internal review team, technology team, school leadership team, school advisory committee and site literacy team. She is currently the chair of her school’s continuous school improvement team and department chair for the seventh grade at her school.

Kaiser encourages students to use a growth mindset as an approach to learning and see each attempt as an opportunity to take risks, experiment and persevere. She uses hands-on, inquiry-based learning that involves students in various activities connecting content-rich knowledge to real-world examples. Kaiser’s philosophy of allowing students to “F.A.I.L. (First Attempt in Learning, and more) Harder” is evident in the classroom as students are provided multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery of concepts and are encouraged to ask questions, investigate and face learning hurdles head-on. Through positive relationships, students are engaged, and the learning communities are vital to her ability to facilitate learning for her students.

Kaiser holds a doctorate in leadership in educational administration from Capella University, a Master of Education in technology in education from Lesley University and a Bachelor of Science in education from Linfield University.