Staff writer Abigail Padgett sat down with this year’s High School Teacher of the Year nominees for three simple questions.

Carrie Gonzales-Ninth grade biology

Q: What is the most rewarding thing to you about your job?

A: When I see my children that I had walk across the stage as seniors graduating.

Q: What is your most memorable experience throughout your career?

A: One year I was going through a rough time in my life and some of my girls, my students, didn’t know what it was exactly but they gave me a card that said stay positive. That really meant a lot to me. Other than this I have so many memories I can’t possibly name just one.

Q: What does it mean to you to be nominated for teacher of the year?

A: I felt very humbled and grateful to be recognized by my peers.

Kimberly Holloway-Aquatic Science and Biology

Q: What is the most rewarding thing to you about your job?

A: Always the students, because when they graduate they remember you and they come back to see you. And the best thing is when you get a college graduation invitation because they think enough of you to remember you four years later to send you their invitation. This has happened a couple times and I’m real proud of them.

Q: What is your most memorable experience throughout your career?

A: Coming here to Duncanville from Arkansas. When I saw all the things they had here and the room they gave me was unlike anything I’ve ever had before.

Q: What does it mean to you to be nominated for teacher of the year?

A: Its amazing that my colleagues think so highly of me. I mean when there are 240+ teachers here and they chose me out of all of them it’s like wow! I didn’t even think you thought I was that great.

Ty Shaw-Choir

Q: What is the most rewarding thing to you about your job?

A: Being able to teach a variety of different students from all different types of backgrounds to achieve one common goal. And the best thing is when they finally get it and the light bulb comes on.

Q: What is your most memorable experience throughout your career?

A: It’s hard to say that there’s one instance most memorable, but one of the most is being able to take a group of students that have worked hard all year to a contest such as an international one. To see the excitement on their faces is truly something that is a reminder to me and them that everything they have worked so hard for has finally paid off.

Q: What does it mean to you to be nominated for teacher of the year?

A: It’s definitely excited, and an honor to be nominated with all of the outstanding faculty we have here at Duncanville.

Annette Burnap-Business Image Management & Web Technologies

Q: What is the most rewarding thing to you about your job?

A: The most rewarding thing for me is when a student, a former student, or a parent thanks me for what I do. I love it when they tell me how my classes or their skills have helped them.

Q: What is your most memorable experience throughout your career?

A: I have lots of great memories, but one of my favorite ones is when a former student came to me at one of my daughter’s dance recitals here at DHS. He said that he had promised himself that if he ever saw me again he was going to thank me because the skills that he had gotten from learning how to type had kept him off of the warfront as a soldierai??i??they needed him in the office. I was kind of blown away by that.

Q: What does it mean to you to be nominated for teacher of the year?

A: I feel like I have made a difference to a lot of people. That’s a pretty great feeling.