Nominated by: Ava Castro

Ms. Jill is truly the most amazing teacher I’ve ever had. I have never met a teacher who cares so much about their students—even ones that they’ve never had in their class. Even when a student comes in late, her face always lights up with the biggest smile to greet them, followed by a warm welcome. Absolutely zero judgment. From the day I first took her class, which was Child Development, I immediately thought, Wow, she has a beautiful soul. The way in which she cares for people is truly inspiring. ​ Ms. Jill always volunteers for all of our dances, shows up to various school events, and showers everybody with love and acceptance, no matter their relation to her—even if they have disrespected her in the past. She makes an effort to be involved in the students' lives. ​ This October, she threw our class a mock gender reveal in Human Development; she baked us a cake during her personal time, went out and paid for snacks with her own money, and helped us set-up decorations. Ms. Jill always uses her money to buy things for her class. She came in for that period despite having taken the day off to help her Dad. No matter what struggles Ms. Jill is going through in her personal life, she always shows up as her best for her students. On top of her home responsibilities, she has to deal with impudent freshmen on a daily basis. Even though they are extremely disrespectful to her—which irritates me beyond words—she still keeps her composure and displays immense patience. Ms. Jill is the human embodiment of resilience. ​ Another example was just a few weeks ago, when she overheard me talking about college struggles and offered to get me in contact with one of her close friends, Alex, who has helped me out tremendously. Due to her getting me into contact with him for networking many doors have opened for me. Not only have I learned a wide-variety of things from him, but it also taught me a lot about her. Her willingness to do that for me, simply because she wanted to, made me feel so special in a way I can’t explain. Ms. Jill is the type of woman who does things from the heart, not for a reward, not for recognition, not even for money—that’s true altruism. Today, she took me to visit him, and we talked about the Garden Club and my college lists. She immediately offered with no hesitation because when she sees a problem, she fixes it. Ms. Jill has the purest heart and does everything in her power to help us succeed. ​ A few months ago, I asked her if she would be willing to help me and my friend start a garden club at our school, and without thinking twice, she instantly said yes before I could even finish my sentence. She then followed that with a plethora of ideas for things we could do and how we could succeed. Since then, she has contacted many nurseries, grocery stores, local businesses, and so much more to donate to us. She dedicates so much of her free time to our club so it can thrive, and I’m immensely grateful for her. Ms. Jill is one of the most selfless people I have ever met, continuously thinking about other people and genuinely wants to make a difference in people’s lives. ​ Ms. Jill helps out a student at our school because he has a hard home life. And the best thing is that she does it because she is so loving, most people don’t know she does this because it was never about the clout, it’s about the heart. ​ My little sister, who lives in Nevada, has autism and is struggling because my dad and step-mom are neglectful, so she took it upon herself to research Head Start places in Nevada to get her the best care. She also provided me with knowledge and wisdom on what to do about the situation. She utilized her off time to do that instead of grading papers or spending time with her own kids because she was determined to help me. ​ She has advocated for a school daycare so that teens at our school who have kids or siblings that they have to take care of can still get an education. She brings snacks for people and always shares her food, even if she’s hungry, and that’s all she brought for lunch. In my four years of going to this school, I have never met anyone who doesn’t like her. If that doesn’t say something, I don’t know what does. Her reputation is flawless, but I still feel like she doesn’t get enough recognition. ​ When I think about the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?" My mind originally went to different types of careers and such, but I have realized that the question every single child in America has been asked is not about a job, but about who they want to be as people. I may want to get a business degree and work in management, but who I really want to be is Ms. Jill. Because Ms. Jill is a humanitarian, a mom, a grandma, a teacher, a sister, a girlfriend, a leader, a community member, and someone whom I deeply respect. So yeah, working in management is cool, but being a person who has helped so many people in a way that she has is cooler.