Tell us why you became a teacher

I became a teacher to give back to others the wonderful education I received as a child. Every child needs someone to believe in them, someone to help them learn to believe in themselves. That's what I was called to do. That's why I became a teacher.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

My memorable experiences all involve instances where students start the year not believing in themselves - students who have almost given up on school because it's too hard or because they believe they can't "do it". Over the course of the year they each learn that I believe in them but the best memory is the day that each of them learned to believe in themselves because they "did it" (whatever "it" was for them).

What would you do with the $25,000?

I would like to buy books for my classroom library for my students to read. I would also like to use some of the prize money to take an expensive training that would teach me how to better meet the needs of my students with dyslexia.