Nominated by: Alexander "ted" Pope

Mr. Smith is an incredible mix of compassion and diligence making his interactions with his students lasting. My son Ted was lucky enough to have had Mr. Smith last year for kindergarten, and if it not for him I do not believe my son would be as far along emotionally or academically. To give some insight on the positive impact Mr. Smith has made in our lives, I should divulge that Ted has aspergers which can make getting him to focus on his studies difficult. I was incredibly nervous about Ted attending school as he can be very obstinate but Mr. Smith has found the perfect method to keeping children involved to where they keep interest. I feel that having such a strong influence in Ted's first year of school starts him with a strong foundation for his future educational advancements. Mr. Smith even takes the time each week to share pictures with the parents of the children and write a newsletter, generally with a funny story of the week. He made me personally feel as if I was involved with Ted's progress in school and would always take the time to address any issues. The only downside is once you have a teacher of this caliber, it's about impossible to top as Mr. Smith set the bar very high for Ted's future educators. I wish I could show how much of a impact Mr. Smith had and that's why I hope to get him nominated. I tried several times to have him acknowledged through Oxford Elementary but never got a response. Even after Ted moved onto 1st grade his prior Elementary school would have Mr. Smith talk to Ted to get him back on track. My son still misses Mr. Smith and my biggest regret recently was moving our of state where Ted is not able to get that extra encouragement. Please help me get this titan of a teacher the respect and recognition that he deserves. Sincerely, Kathy Pope.