LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Linda Skaggs was nominated by an anonymous colleague.

"With great pleasure, I nominate Dr. Linda Skaggs for the Lifechanger of the Year Award. I've had the pleasure of working in the classroom and with Dr. Skaggs," said the nominator. "Through this time, Dr. Skaggs has been taught a wide range of students, from gifted students to those who were profoundly intellectually delayed or autistic. To watch Dr. Skaggs with her students is to watch poetry come to life. Her patience and kindness are limitless. She brings humor and fun into every day."

Dr. Skaggs works at a Title I school with many homeless and economically disadvantaged students. However, she makes sure that a student is never at a disadvantage in her classroom if they are missing basic necessities. Dr. Skaggs has a cabinet full of extra food, Vaseline, school supplies, and extra clothes to give to students whose families couldn't afford them. She bought and wrapped Christmas presents so that they would have something to unwrap under the tree. When she learned that her students did not have books of their own to read, she organized a community book drive where people donated new books to her class by "adopting" a student. Students received brand new books based on their interests.

Her devotion transcends the classroom. You are a part of her life forever when you have been in her class. One time, she was worried about a struggling student during the summer, so she reached out to his mother to check up on him, only to discover that he was in the hospital. She drove for an hour to sit by the bedside of that student for multiple days until he was released. She promised him that she would take him and his family to the movies when he got out. Movie trips are a luxury that students in her community don't get to have often. When that student was released, she was true to her word.

Teachers often lose sleep over their students, but Dr. Skaggs wakes up and takes action. When that family was going to be evicted because they had to choose to stay with their child in the hospital or work, she rallied community businesses to sponsor the family until the parents could get back to work. Each year, she brings bags of clothes to donate to her students.

"Dr. Skaggs is one of the hardest-working individuals I have ever met," said the nominator. "She has been the grade level chair, Chairwoman of the student governance team, a leader of the concept of Capturing Kids Hearts, and the mentor of new teachers at our school. If her workload was not enough, Dr. Skaggs just completed her doctorate with a 4.0 GPA and is a dedicated mother to her daughter. She never misses a practice or game, and she somehow manages to be the Girl Scout troop leader and Sunday school teacher for her daughter. She does it all with a smile on her face and a heart full of faith and love."

Dr. Skaggs makes school fun. She runs a high-energy environment that makes students want to be the best versions of themselves. Dr. Skaggs practices hands-on learning while meeting the students where they are. She fills the halls with a contagious laugh. Everyone knows when Dr. Skaggs is near. She is not just a teacher that students remember forever, but one that they try to emulate.

Dr. Skaggs is the type of leader that leads from the front. She encourages and empowers her peers to be the best educators they can be, and she's always willing to lend a helping hand while offering words of encouragement. Dr. Skaggs is a teacher's teacher. She makes everyone around her better. She builds lifelong relationships with the families and the parents of her students, recognizing that they must all be in the process together to ensure the student's success.