Have you ever had a class in school that you just never enjoyed? That you have a grudge against maybe for no particular reason, or for a specific reason. For me, that class was always English, but that all changed seventh-grade year. That was the year I met Ms. Flickinger. I was a new student to the Dickinson Middle Years Program, and half the students in my grade had already had Ms. Flickinger. They all talked about her so highly. The other half of the grade along with me were holding onto our doubts. Nevertheless, the first day, the very first minute, I instantly knew Ms. Flickinger was going to be a great teacher. A few ways Ms. Flickinger is the best teacher I know and deserves the Educator of the Year award includes her ability to create practical lessons, care for her students, and teach life lessons to her students in that brief 45-minute class.

Ms. Flickinger was able to captivate the minds of her students by creating practical and interesting lessons. She was able to show how the skills we were learning in her class could actually be used in the real world. She was able to create projects that got us involved in our community and that informed people of current problems we might encounter. One such project I remember was a video that we had to create to inform an audience of our peers. Most students took pride in their work due to the freedom and support that Ms. Flickinger gave when picking our topics. This freedom allowed her students to pick a topic they were interested in, and it kept them excited to better their skills in her English class. For example, some students chose the pink tax, others chose climate control, and some even the new subject of vaping. Ms. Flickinger’s lessons and her way of presenting them allowed her students to realize that these skills can be utilized in their future, and allowed me to personally respect English class for the years to follow.

Another way Ms. Flickinger deserves the honor of the Educator of the Year award is because she created relationships with her students and actually cared to get to know them. Ms. Flickinger helped guide her students not only in the classroom but also outside of it to grow as young adults. For me, any teacher that goes out of their way to get to know their students deserves to be in the conversation for this award, but Ms. Flickinger went the extra mile to help her students. This is one of the many admirable qualities that Ms. Flickinger exhibits that makes her an Educator of the Year.

Ms. Flickinger also worked hard to support the local community and to get her students involved. She taught her students so many lessons such as giving back to your community, helping out the underprivileged, and in general being a model person. She taught valuable life lessons and overall was respected among her students and colleagues. I remember that year Ms. Flickinger continued her community work with the “Salutations for Sailors” drive. This drive was to provide necessary items to the sailors of other countries at the Port of Wilmington. These sailors were at the Port center unable to leave for up to 2 weeks. That year alone, Ms. Flickinger was able to organize and gather over 1,018 necessary items for the drive. As you can see, Ms. Flickinger went beyond her job every day to help change the world little by little passing those beliefs down to her students.

As a ninth-grader now, I have enjoyed English class every year since stepping into Ms. Flickinger’s class. The practical lessons she taught us, her kind trusting personality, and the exceptional life lessons she taught us helped me grow as a person. Ms. Flickinger was able to make young teenagers excited to learn with unique lesson plans; she cared for her students and those students trusted her. Any teacher that can conquer these feats earns my vote for Educator of the Year.