Educator of the Week: Michelle Rogers

HURON, Tenn. — It’s time now to recognize our Educator of the Week, brought to you by the Tennessee Education Lottery.

Michelle Rogers is a 3rd grade Science and Social Studies teacher at Westover Elementary School in Lexington.

Rogers tells us how past teachers helped inspire her at a young age.

“I have always enjoyed helping kids. Growing up, I had a lot of teachers that inspired me, and the ones that did always thought, I want to do that when I grow up. I want to be able to help like they helped me,” Rogers said.

She also shares how her grandmother encouraged her to pursue education.

“My grandmother always inspired me to become a teacher. My first year teaching, she cut out the newspaper clipping, and she hung it on the wall. I knew every time I went to my grandmother’s house and I saw the newspaper clipping, I thought, this is what I meant to do,” said Rogers.

Rogers has been at Westover Elementary for 13 years. She tells us about one technique she uses to keep her kids engaged.

“We do a thing called a whole brain teaching,” she said. “We do lots of hand motions, lots of standing up, sitting down, try to keep them involved. We pulled out a big map in the hallway yesterday, and they just crawled around and found different rivers and things like that, the capitol on the map, and it was just amazing.”

She ends by sharing some words of wisdom for aspiring educators.

“I would say to make sure that they love being around kids all day long, all day long, because it is challenging and you have to have a lot of patience. Just make sure that you love children. And as long as you love children, the rest will come.”

Rogers is now eligible for the Tennessee Education Lottery Educator of the Month award.

To vote for her or any other nominees, go to the Tennessee Education Lottery website.

To nominate an educator for our Educator of the Week award, email us at educator@wbbjtv.com.