Do you have one of those really relaxed and fun teachers, who knew how to make education entertaining? Surely everyone does, and mine is Ms. Calderone. Ms. Calderone teaches BFM (Business Finance and Marketing) to freshmen, which is an interesting  class in itself. For only teaching at my school less than a year, she already has a great reputation. Every freshman I know likes her as a teacher, and not only is she a superb  teacher, but an excellent mentor, connecting with her students in a way that helps everyone.

In a school environment, a good balance between work and fun can be just what kids need to succeed; Ms. Calderone seems to know this, and so she  mixes in a lot of fun with our work. She lets her students use their phones during free time, and she incorporates social media into learning. For example, my class once had to write a descriptive paragraph about a budgeting concept, which had to be fit into a twitter message! We also have polls that we can vote on through our phones, to find out whether we liked or disliked something. One time, my class was a day ahead of the other classes, and Ms. Calderone walked us down to the park to play a game of kickball! Those are the type of fun things that make students excited to come to class.

Obviously, you can’t teach a class through social media and games of kickball. That is no quandary  for Ms. Calderone, because not only is she a spontaneous and a genuinely interesting person, she is a great educator. In class, she teaches us many important things to use outside of school, such as how to fill out a check. How to buy a car or home, and how to budget our money and make smart choices. She also makes sure that we can apply these skills in a real-life scenario, by making us start a hypothetical business, and shop for cars and homes.

Being a cadet at a military academy, there isn’t much room for creativity, except  for in Ms. Calderone’s classroom. Her classroom is beautifully decorated with other students colorful projects, and seasonal decor, such as lights on Christmas or skeletons on Halloween. We get numerous chances to express ourselves in her class, through posters, presentations, and even making our own business. There are numerous art projects, as well as other ways to express our talents. We once had to come up with a creative rap for ways to budget!

Ms. Calderone is a great educator, and her techniques for teaching seem to go undefeated. She helps us individually, and makes sure every student is right where he or she should be. She does all of this while still maintaining to be the coolest teacher at my school. Her balance of education and good times is seemingly perfect in my opinion, and that is why she is my nominee for Educator of the Year.