LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Cierra Gilbert was nominated anonymously. 

Ms. Gilbert creates a positive classroom environment by building a space where students feel safe, respected, supported, and motivated to learn. She builds positive relationships and gets to know her students, shows genuine interest in their lives, and treats everyone with kindness and respect. She establishes clear expectations, classroom rules, and routines with her students, and she applies them fairly and consistently. Every student has an opportunity to contribute, ask questions, and share ideas without fear of embarrassment. She uses positive reinforcement and recognizes effort, improvement, and good behavior through praise, encouragement, or rewards. These different techniques have helped her create a positive learning environment every school year. Her goal is to incorporate more hands-on materials to help students become actively engaged during learning.