Tell us why you became a teacher

I always struggled in math. When I got to 3rd grade, my teacher made math fun (even if I wasn’t good at it) and was always encouraging. In her class, I never felt inferior. I knew then that I wanted to be a teacher who could help students find the joy in learning.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

I had a student, who came to me speaking no English, in fact, he didn’t speak at all. I thought at first it was because he spoke Spanish. He would often cry so I would read to him in Spanish. He still never spoke. He would fail tests because he wouldn’t speak. I knew he was intelligent and I was determined to help him succeed. I found creative ways to assess him where I could see what he knew without him having to speak. One day as he was leaving he said “I love you”. It melted my heart.

What would you do with the $25,000?

Living on a teacher salary is tough, especially in the summer when I don’t receive a paycheck. $25,000 would be life changing. I would put it in my savings to draw from in the summers. It would make the ten months I get paid so much easier with not having to worry so much about putting some back from each paycheck. There are some months I have to transfer what I did put into savings back into my checking account in order to make it through each month. Having that extra cushion would bring peace.