Scharla Taylor

Tell us why you became a teacher

I became a teacher when I discovered how naturally I could help my own children learn—guiding them to read and write their names as toddlers sparked something meaningful in me. That experience showed me the impact of teaching and how I can help others learn new things. I’ve always been drawn to science, and I knew I wanted to share that passion with young learners by helping them explore and better understand the world around them.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

My first year I was struggling to keep up with everything. One of the boys was being "rowdy" one day and I snapped and yelled at him to stop and sit down. He didn't talk the rest of the class and left at the bell. The next day he came in with an attitude and when I was calm and just talked to him like a person, he asked "why aren't you still mad at me?". I replied, "yesterday was yesterday, today is new". From then on he was my best student and helped me learn too!

What would you do with the $25,000?

I would use some of it to buy supplies for both of my classrooms. This year I am serving two campuses and I would like to have more flexible seating options, like bean bag type chairs and stools. I would also purchase some "sound proofing" tiles for one of the walls at one school (the sound of my students learning in a fun way is sometimes disruptive to others).