The person that I would nominate for Educator of the Year is my 8th grade science teacher Mrs. Wood. Going into my 8th grade year I was a bit of a troublemaker, and Mrs. Wood knew it. She would constantly see me getting in trouble by my teachers, or she would be yelling at me. This did not change the way she treated me during the first day. She gave me a fresh start, and she treated me the same as everyone else which really surprised me because I thought she was going to assume I was a bad kid and not give me a chance.

Mrs. Wood was very helpful and determined to try to help someone. If I was ever confused about a lab we were doing or confused about what was going on that day during class, she would always walk me through it until I fully understood it. I was very appreciative of this because science was never my best class, and I got confused very easily. It was not just me who she helped; she helped all of my classmates whenever they needed it.

Another trait Mrs. Wood had was her ability to motivate everyone in the class. She helped everyone whenever they needed it. She would always make the experiments fun and get everyone excited about the lab that we were going to be doing that day. She would always help her kids and let them know that they could do it, including me. If I was having a bad day, she would always try to motivate me by making the classes fun and help anyone when they needed it instead of criticizing them. She also told me to just focus on my work and would even give me more leniency when the project should have be done.

Mrs. Wood would always treat all of her kids respect no matter what. She was very forgiving, and she would never hold grudges. If you were getting in trouble constantly, she would not just give you a detention, she would talk about the issue with you which is unlike most teachers. By the next day, she would give you another opportunity and show the same respect to you as she did to all of the other students. This also includes the fact that she never had favorites and liked everyone the same.

These are a few of the reasons how Mrs. Wood had such an important impact on my life. She was such an amazing role model, and she taught me many good traits to have. Not only did she teach me about science, she taught me about character by the the way she acted towards her students. How she respected everyone, motivated everyone and helped anyone when they needed it, was really inspirational. I am forever grateful to have her as a teacher and a role model, and that is why I’m nominating her for the Teen Ink Educator of the Year.