I have chosen Mrs. Coston as the Teen Ink 2017 Educator of The Year. Mrs.
Coston is a math teacher at H.B. DuPont Middle School in Hockessin, Delaware. She
has impacted my life more than just in the classroom. Mrs.Coston teaches algebra and
pre-algebra and she was my 8th grade math teacher at H.B Dupont. I happen to know
that she teaches in the evenings to people who did not have the opportunity to
graduate high school.

Math has never been a strong subject for me, but Mrs. Coston has a way to
break the problems apart to make them easier to understand by using worksheets and
powerpoint. Mrs. Coston, the teacher, is knowledgeable and accepting of each
student’s different learning abilities, and she uses different approaches to make sure
her students do not fall behind. Mrs. Coston, the person, is kind, compassionate and
funny. Mrs. Coston was always telling jokes to make learning fun. She was always
aware that school needs to be fun for students too; she always had a way to make us
laugh and to help brighten up our day.

Mrs. Coston continues using her education to help adults who did not have the
privilege to graduate high school. In order for the adult to get their GED, they have to
pass high school math. Mrs. Coston uses her own time selflessly to help these people
gain something that so many of us take for granted, a high school diploma.
Mrs. Coston would regularly remind us during class that she didn’t want to see
us fail and give up in high school and become dropouts. She never wants to see us in
one of her night classes. She genuinely cares for her students and wants to see them
succeed. If anyone of us were struggling, she made it a point to help us without
judging us for our misunderstanding of a lesson. She respects us as students and
knows we all learn differently. Mrs. Coston will forever be a #1 teacher in my life.
I believe Mrs. Coston deserves to be recognized for her hard work and
dedication to the children that she teaches. She is always thinking outside the box to
make math fun and enjoyable even for the faintest of heart. Mrs. Coston is an Ace and
she makes math exciting, for all these reasons Mrs. Coston has my vote for the 2017
Teen Ink Educator of the Year.