Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
I would love to nominate Mrs. James from Scera Park Elementary in Orem for this award!! I wish I could express in words why she *so* deserves this! She has been so incredible and has gone so above and beyond for her 1st grade class! It brings me to tears often because I'm so overwhelmed with gratitude for this teacher for what she does!! My daughter, Presley, has a degenerative neuromuscular condition that has left her muscles extremely weak but her mind is still bright and cognitively unaffected. She attends the mainstream 1st grade. She requires a computer and all kinds of special equipment (too many to name!) to do her work and keep the same pace as her peers. Mrs. James has gone above and beyond to make it possible to get her work onto the computer each and every day and has even studied up on things that can help her further! We have been able to implement almost everything Presley uses because of Mrs. James!!! She is already making an instruction manual of steps on how to do the things she does so that when Presley moves on to 2nd grade, the teacher will be more at ease! She just thinks of others so much and she deserves to be recognized. Presley isn't the only one benefitting from Mrs. James' dedication to her work and students! I have attended class with Presley on different occasions and my mom also attends daily as her aide and DAILY she comes out raving how good Mrs. James is with her students! THEY LOVE SCHOOL BECAUSE OF HER!! She takes so much time and cares so much for them individually and they know that! She wants them to respect her because they know she cares for them and not fear her, which they clearly do! They are the best little class and it is a clear reflection on how Mrs. James treats them! Thank you for considering this dedicated teacher who I know has changed the perspective and paved a path for better education for my daughter as well as others!!
--Mindy Gleason
