Stofsicks, teaching is definitely a family affair.
Kitty's mother and all four sisters were teachers.
Leanne's father taught in Hudson schools for 33 years, and her brother teaches in Stow.
The list goes on and on.
And this family love affair with teaching apparently starts early.
While growing up, Kitty, 67, always played school.
``I always wanted to be a teacher,'' she said. ``It's a curiosity -- the need to know and want others to know.''
So she went to Kent State University, got her degree and then started teaching, first as a physical education teacher and then as a health teacher.
She was active in helping form peer counseling programs and alcohol- and drug-intervention programs at the school long before those types of things were in style.
As a child, Leanne remembers students coming to her mom's house for help with their problems. Kitty always was willing to listen.
``You want to make sure you've touched somebody's life and made it worthwhile,'' Kitty said.
She stayed with the Falls school district until 1988, when she took a job with the state Department of Education helping teach other educators how to teach children about AIDS.
In 1993, she left that position and has since been teaching courses at Kent State University.
Like her mom, Leanne, 37, went to Kent State. But she started out as a performance major, rather than education.
Rather than go into show business, however, she decided to combine her love for performance with her lifelong exposure to education.
It was a perfect fit.
After all, the best teachers have to capture their audience -- the students. And they never know what to expect from her class.
``Routines bore me,'' Leanne said with a laugh. ``I'm a performer.
She's also a dedicated educator. For the past 10 years, she's been directing and writing musicals for the fifth-grade drama club she started, the Panther Players.
She also helps stage the spring musicals at the high school.
``I hear a lot of people say they're bored with their jobs, and that amazes me,'' Leanne said. ``I'm never bored.''
Both mother and daughter were pleased to win their teaching awards, but neither puts too much emphasis on them.
``It's really nice,'' Leanne said. ``But it isn't why we do the things we do. The real reward comes from the kids.''