Angela Patterson-Godinez

Tell us why you became a teacher

I became a teacher because I remembered when I would volunteer at an elementary school and how much I enjoyed teaching students. I remember a little girl understanding her math when I taught it to her and I thought this is the feeling I want to have all of the time. I also thought as a working mom I would be able to be at home with my own children during the summer.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

I remember teaching my class to write sentences in kindergarten and I had been working on it for months. I had a student that would just write letters not connecting his words to the actual writing. Than one day he was reading his writing back to me and he said that makes no sense, it was literally the light bulb moment. It was such a rewarding experience to see he made the connection to what I was teaching him. I have had students cry leaving school because they will miss me.

What would you do with the $25,000?

I would take my family on a nice vacation. I have 4 kids and 3 adopted adult kids. I would like to take them all on a nice vacation.