Sugar spice and everything nice—that’s what comes to mind of Mrs. Carnell. I’ve never met a teacher as sweet and caring as she is.

I had the pleasure of being in her Advanced Composition class this past year. I have not been known for my writing skills, but she encouraged me to just let my mind go and not worry about what comes out on paper.

I always used to be a brown-noser, only writing what I thought the teacher would enjoy. But she extracted that thought from my head. She taught me the best writing is something only I could write. I now write for myself, for what I’m interested in, and not for the appeasement of my teacher.

Writing in this new way, I learned more about myself. I wrote about my family and my hobbies. I come from a family of five brothers, and my house gets chaotic. Mrs. Carnell has had every one of my brothers. She loves hearing the shenanigans my family has done and are still doing. Since she knew each of them personally, I could write the complete truth, and not have to make them sound like little goody-two-shoes. I felt comfortable writing almost anything to her.

The different types of papers we wrote made it more enjoyable, also. One particular paper was a historical fiction piece. My paper was on Pearl Harbor, and my original plan was just to do it to get it done. But Mrs. Carnell pushed me to write an extraordinary paper. She saw potential in me where I didn’t even believe it possible.

Mrs. Carnell has been the most influential teachers in my life. She deserves this award more than anyone else. She is a giving person and it’s time that she got a little something back.