Every class has a potential to be great or not so good, but for me a lot of that has to do with having the right teacher. Having a teacher you can learn something from and still relate to is something that can really give you a great in-class experience, and Ms. Degregory was one of my favorite middle school teachers because of that. I have a lot of memories from her classes, which go all the way back to sixth grade. I took at least one of her classes every year, because she was just one of those teachers who you just want to keep going back to for the experience.

I met Mrs. Degregory when I was in sixth grade; she wasn’t my main arts teacher, but I had always loved art and drawing, so I picked her class and had visual arts as a minor. I remember being in sixth grade and thinking I knew everything I needed to know, but when I left in eighth grade I knew more about art, the different styles of it, and different cultures that created it, than I even knew existed.  I respect her a lot as a teacher and a person and that’s one of the reasons why she was one of my favorite teachers. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t look forward to one of her classes and that’s something that I still remember today.

I remember doing projects in Ms. Degregory’s class and never just doing anything for busywork. There was always a reason and purpose for everything we did and always something new to learn. We always did research and talked about subjects before we did anything with them, so we understood what and why we were doing projects. I learned a lot about different cultures and ways to express myself. She also made me realize that I could do anything I wanted no matter if it was with art or in other ways of expressing myself.

One of the other things I liked about Mrs. Degregory is that she was an approachable person; you could talk to her about anything. I remember having casual conversations with her and other students, and it’s nice to have a teacher you can do that with. If I ever had a question about an assignment or any work we were doing, she always gave me the help I needed and that was something I appreciated. She made sure we understood all the background information and always took away something from everything she taught us.

Those are the reasons why I am nominating Mrs. Degregory as Educator of the Year because she was one of my favorite teachers that I ever had. She was a good overall person, who was easy to approach and had a positive attitude. I always looked forward to her classes because of the type of teacher she is. She makes sure everyone is understanding and takes away something from everything she teaches us, and she really inspired me to do anything that I wanted to do in life. That’s what I took away as her student and why she was one of my favorite teachers.