LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Amy Benton was nominated anonymously.

Creating a positive classroom environment is essential in Ms. Benton's role as a Title I and TESOL teacher. She builds strong relationships with students by greeting them warmly each day, learning about their languages and cultures, and incorporating their interests into instruction to make learning relevant and meaningful. Ms. Benton establishes clear routines and expectations to provide a sense of safety and consistency, which is critical for student confidence and success.

She plans to foster belonging by displaying multilingual labels, student work, and culturally responsive materials that reflect and honor their identities. Ms. Benton arranges the physical space to encourage collaboration while maintaining organization, which reduces stress and promotes focus. By incorporating cooperative learning structures and providing sentence frames, she enables all students to participate confidently and develop academic language skills.

Additionally, Ms. Benton incorporates social-emotional learning activities, such as daily check-ins and mindfulness practices, to support students' emotional well-being and readiness to learn. Overall, creating this welcoming and inclusive environment empowers students to take risks, engage deeply with content, and achieve their academic goals.

Her most pressing classroom needs are basic school supplies to support her Title I and TESOL students. Many of her students come from families living in poverty and often come to school without essential materials. She needs pencils, notebooks, and folders so students can stay organized and complete their work without worrying about having the right tools.

Throughout her teaching career, she has achieved several accomplishments that demonstrate her dedication to student growth and success. While co-teaching on a second-grade team, she collaborated to design and implement effective instruction that resulted in a high growth rate for MAP scores in English Language Arts. In her role as a TESOL teacher, she has supported English Learner students in making measurable progress on their OELPA exams, with two students successfully graduating from the TESOL program after demonstrating English proficiency. She has also provided targeted reading interventions that helped struggling readers reach grade-level benchmarks. By designing differentiated lessons that integrate language development and content standards, she ensures that all students are engaged, supported, and empowered to achieve their academic goals.