LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Russell Prater was nominated by Laura Smith, the parent of a student

"Russell Prater challenges his students! He has significantly impacted my daughter's current and future education in two significant ways. The first thing he did was present the AP Biology content in a way that helped my daughter develop a way to study. Very rarely do I see students studying for tests. Inspired by Prater's way of teaching, my daughter takes notes, writes vocabulary by hand, rereads them, reads the slides he presents, and then teaches the information on the slides to me. This methodology has made her very successful, and this is a skill that will get her through college and beyond.

The second thing Mr. Prater has done is help narrow down the field of study my daughter wants to study in college. This is a big deal because my daughter wants to study forensic science, but that degree covers many disciplines, and students need to decide early what they want to focus on before they get too deep into the major. My daughter is now looking into studying DNA. I do not know why Mr. Prater's unit on DNA stuck with her, but this shift puts her right in the middle of one of the fastest-growing fields of STEM. I can't wait to see my daughter working alongside other scientists!

The first time I had met Mr. Prater. I told him that his class was my daughter's favorite. He was very pleased but shocked at the same time. I don't think a parent had ever told him that before. I enjoyed watching the ease of the conversation between Mr. Prater and my daughter. They both have so much respect for each other. You do not often see that kind of relationship between a teacher and a student. I could see why my daughter worked so hard for him. His class is interesting and challenging, and he cultivates a sense of community through his instruction and expectations. Russell Prater is a LifeChanger," said Smith.