‘It’s only fair that I pay it forward,’ June One Class At A Time winner from Peter Pendleton Elementary

The One Class At A Time award winner for June is Ms. Adriana Garcia, who teaches 6th grade at Peter Pendleton Elementary School in Coachella.

The award is made possible through News Channel 3's partnership with the Walter Clark Legal Group. “You're being praised because you're not just a great teacher, but you are also and amazing friend and life coach for the students,” said attorney Walter Clark.

She's been teaching for 17 years and said she was inspired to enter the profession by two of her childhood teachers. "I would stay after school everyday with them and just help them grade. I just loved being involved with kids and they impacted my life so much. I don't even know if they have an idea how much they changed my life, so I just hope I can do the same for others," explained Garcia.

Currently, she and her class are focused on reading and writing lessons. Ms. Garcia said compared to the beginning of the school year, she can see the growth among her students.

She plans to use the $777 award money to purchase flexible seating, such as beanbag chairs, for her large class of 30 students as an alternative during reading exercises when oftentimes the students like to move around or even sit on the floor.

If you know a deserving teacher you'd like to nominate, or you're an educator and would like to nominate yourself, be sure to do so here: https://kesq.com/one-class-at-a-time/#//

Watch News Channel 3 at 5:00 p.m. tonight for the full story.