Golden Apple Award: Sabrina Hardy, Charleston Elementary

CHARLESTON, TN (WDEF) – Going to school for the very first time is a big step in a child’s life. Sabrina Hardy is an expert at calming the fears of her Pre-K students at Charleston Elementary.Her friendly face helps them focus on education.

Kirk Campbell is the Principal at Charleston Elementary STEAM Academy

He says, “She is our foundation coming into kindergarten, and so she does a great job of building foundational skills with the kids, and so they can be ready to come in to kindergarten and have a great experience.”

When asked to describe herself, Sabrina says, “I have taught kindergarten, third grade and I student taught the fifth  grade, but I would probably say that I am most comfortable around pre-K, because this is the year that they get to have fun. We don’t really get that with older kids, the imagination you see. They can pretend that those are real monkeys. You hear wild stories. As they get older, they lose that imagination sometimes. I love every day is a new story. Like yesterday, I was told that I have chicken legs. So, you just go with it. Pretty much every day we have to deal with multiple boo-boos. They hurt each others feelings so we have to teach them how to talk through it.”

Nicole Belcher is an Assistant pre-K teacher.

She says, “When the kids come in on day one, they are scared. They are nervous, but she loves on them. She assures them that mom and dad are coming back at the end of the day, and they love you very much, and we do push them just a little bit to get them ready for kindergarten, but all of these guys are amazing. She is amazing with them.”

Sabrina concludes, “I guess I am just your average teacher. I try to make sure every day that I know, but at the end of the day these are babies, and I have to respect that their parents trust me, and I guess I am a nurse, a mom, a friend to them, I like to,  I just want them to feel like they are my kids, even though they are not really my, my babies.