LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Las Vegas Grand Prix is recognizing a Las Vegas teacher and giving her two tickets to the 2024 race.
On Wednesday, race officials surprised Laura Jeanne Penrod, who is an English teacher at Southwest Career & Technical Academy. She was also named the 2024 Nevada Teacher of the Year.
WATCH: Clark County English teacher named 2024 Nevada Teacher of the Year
Penrod has been an educator for 18 years and has spent 14 of them at Southwest Career & Technical Academy.
She said she had no idea Formula 1 was coming to her classroom this week.
"[School staff have] been doing a really good job keeping things under wraps and I thought I was doing an interview on how schools get negative PR," Penrod told Channel 13. "It was a genuine surprise for me to be acknowledged today. I'm very overwhelmed but in the best ways."
Penrod said after cheering for her students to succeed in and out of the classroom, it meant a lot to see the same students cheering for her.
"Every day I step in this room and I feel loved by my students and I think that's a very reciprocal relationship because I love them for who they are and they love me for who I am," Penrod said. "Hearing their claps and excitement and emotion reaffirms that I'm in the right space with the right people and doing the right thing, which is being in education and being with my kids. There's nobody else I'd love to clap for me more than them because they're the ones who are affected every day by what I do."
She said the last couple of weeks have been emotional as she gets ready to say farewell to a group of students.
"I've started a tradition with my seniors where I create little care packages for them as they leave me. I've gotten letters of advice from some of their favorite teachers, counselors, and then I put that in a little care package for them. But I also personally write them a letter," Penrod said. "There's nothing better than hearing the inflection of your teacher and the energy behind their voice. I was reading that letter to them and saying my official goodbyes because my seniors are graduating next week."
Penrod added it is also nice to see more organizations thank and recognize teachers for all they do
"That's been deserved for a long time," Penrod said. "You don't get a lot of feedback on a day-to-day basis. It's a lot like parenting. When someone acknowledges you for the hard work or the things that you've done, it feels special. I feel really grateful to lead in this space and people appreciate the work that I, and my peers, are doing and will continue to do."
