Mrs. Shannon Smith, my coach, teacher, and someone I could always trust.  A role model I will remember forever.  Walking into middle school was scary and new to me; I wasn’t too sure what to expect from it.  I was told I was playing field hockey, a sport I absolutely hated!  There was no way I was getting on that field and playing that sport!  I already heard Mrs. Smith was the coach, and she made you run all the time.  I was also planning to take honors math in 6th grade.  Mrs. Smith was my 6th grade math teacher for the whole year.  From being nervous, to being excited, to growing up walking into a new class, was all a little confusing.  Little did I know, Mrs. Smith would be the biggest help to me for the next 3 years of my life in middle school (and still today).

Field hockey, in my mind, the worst sport in the entire world!  I walked onto the field during tryouts pretty mad that I was at tryouts in the first place.  Of course, we ran.  I went home mad for the next couple of days.  After tryouts were over and a few days of practice had been played, I started to enjoy coming to practice.  Seeing all the girls who played and being coached by Mrs. Smith was the highlight of my day.  After 2 weeks or so I completely fell in love with the game, and you could tell!  This wouldn’t have happened without Mrs. Smith.  She always had faith in my ability to play the game and enjoy it.  Even on my worst days at practice, she never gave up on me.  Developing a new player to be a good player and good person is a hard task at for most people, not for Mrs. Smith.  It was like an everyday thing for her; she did it effortlessly.  I played field hockey for her for 3 years.  I went from not being able to hold a stick correctly in 6th grade to being starting center defense as an 8th grader and team captain!  Through one sport she taught me to never give up and always be the person I wanted to be.  Practice was always fun and games were even more memorable.  Although I didn’t enjoy the diagonal running drills, I forever wish I had the ability to go back and play for her team again.

Math was a subject that has always confused me.  I was never the kid that would solve all the problems, and always had my hand up.  I would always need a little more explaining for me to understand and finish.  Starting middle school was scary, and I had no idea how an honors class was going to go.  I walked into math and sat at my assigned seat nervous for how the year was going to go.  She told us a little about herself and the description of how the class was going to go.  I started to ease up on the nervousness of going to this class, and the thought of middle school wasn’t as bad.  Throughout the year, I had understood most of what we did.  She never failed to give me further explanation about how or what to do:  If I needed help; she was always there.  Having a steady balance between hands-on and quizes/tests in the classroom kept me engaged in learning and made it easy for me to come to class everyday.  Starting my school year with good math grades helped me in future classes as well!

From starting my first day in middle school to graduating middle school to starting high school, Mrs. Smith has been there from the start.  After I completed 6th grade, I would still visit Mrs. Smith everyday.  As an 8th grader, I was the captain of the field hockey team with one of my close friends.  We worked hand in hand with Mrs. Smith to make field hockey great for all the players.  She always made sure we knew how to act and what our responsibilities were.  I was taught to respect everyone, no matter what the circumstances were.  Sportsmanship was always the answer for her.  She was someone who was trustworthy, and I trusted coming to with problems or concerns about anything and everything.  I considered Mrs. Smith as a type of second mom.  She prepared me for high school and high school sports in many ways, and I could never thank her enough. 

Without Mrs. Smith, I’m not too sure where I’d be right now.  Would I be playing field hockey?  Would I be using her teaching techniques?  Would I understand her side of math?  Role Model:a person whose behavior, example, or success is or can be emulated by others, especially by younger people.  That is the dictionary definition of a role model.  All attributes of Mrs. Smith, one of the biggest role models in my life.  I want to thank her for everything she’s ever done for me, thank you Mrs. Smith.  Mrs. Shannon Smith is my nomination for Educator of the Year.