TOPEKA (KSNT) - One teacher in south Topeka is taking care for her students to a whole new level. Leah Munoz-Wade has been in education for eight years. She went to college at Washburn University and for the last four years has stayed close to her alma mater as a 5th grade teacher at Pauline Sout h Intermediate School. After having some real-life inspiration from her years as a student, she wanted to be that great educator for the kids in Shawnee County. In her mind, part of being a good teacher is good connections with the students families outside of the classroom. "One of the things that I strive really hard for in my classroom is to make sure that I have good parent communication and good communication just overall with families and making sure that they know that we're all a team and working together," Munoz-Wade said. February Teacher of the Month: Nicolas Carr That great communication trickles down from the home to the classroom. Munoz-Wade views her students as part of one family. "We're just like a big family, kind of," Munoz-Wade said. "We tell each other everything and then we have our arguments, and we have our tiffs and stuff. But there's like at the end of the year, by the end of the year, were truly like one big family. And so that's really awesome." "One of the things that I think is exemplary is the relationships that she builds with her students," Pauline South Intermediate School principal Chris Holman said. "They know that they're loved by her, just not only by maybe special things that she does, but even the day-to-day interactions that she has, they get to know her really well. She gets to know them and their families very well." For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. ...read more read less