A big surprise for a kindergarten teacher in Surprise.
Throughout the school year, Mrs. Stephanie transforms more than two dozen kindergartners into excellent readers.
“I nominated Mrs. Stephanie Allen,” said Ami Preston, special education teacher and parent at Arizona Charter Academy. “She just comes in with so much enthusiasm and energy.”
In a special announcement surrounded by other school staff, Preston presented Allen with a bouquet of flowers and gave her a hug, telling her she was the 12 News A+ Teacher of the Week.
“I was in shock," Allen said. "I didn’t know what to say or what to do and I think they wanted a big grand speech and I ducked my head and hid."
When you step inside her classroom, you can tell just how passionate she is about teaching.
Ami’s son Jacob had Mrs. Allen as a teacher. She was amazed to see how much he learned in her class.
“He was reading,” Preston said. “He was able to add and subtract… and counting to 100… she really just sets them up to be scholars.”
Mrs. Allen finds ways to stay engaged and motivated.
“Most people, that’s not their dream day to spend it with 26 5-year-olds, but it’s not work for me,” Allen said. “It’s so much fun.”
Allen said it's the special moments with her students that make it so worth it.
“What people don’t get to see is I get to see their first word that they read… first time making sense of numbers, shapes… develop into writers,” she said. “I also get to experience them making their first friend.”
She focuses on all the progress her students make.
“It’s just phenomenal to be a part of that process,” she said.
It’s what fuels Mrs. Allen.
“There were just so many things that I was shocked at, because I know that when I was little, kinder was half a day and we did mostly play, so to see what she’s able to do with these little guys is incredible,” Preston said.
You can tell what she’s doing is working.
If you know a teacher who deserves to be recognized as one of our 12 News A+ teachers, email us at connect@12news.com.