October One Class At a Time Winner says the award money ‘is going to go far’

October's One Class At a Time Award winner is Ms. Mindy Zimmerman, who teaches 8th grade at James Workman Middle School in Cathedral City.

She teaches language arts, U.S. history, and for the first time ever, she's teaching yearbook as an elective course. 

Her work teaching yearbook is what got the attention of a parent, and ultimately what earned Zimmerman a nomination, which she said was "completely unexpected."

Ms. Zimmerman said was so surprised by the award, she admitted she hadn't "actually had a chance to let this all sink in."

She said teaching the yearbook course brings with it a much bigger end goal than meets the eye.

The educator said she is "trying to do more than just create something that students can purchase and have memories," and added she is "trying to incorporate journalism.”

Ms. Zimmerman said she’s teaching her students about captions, angles, and interviews and is aiming to inspire her class to think about their future. 

She expressed hope that her students "will take this information and move forward into high school with journalism, doing something like that, and then years beyond maybe into a career.” 

If you'd like to apply to be next month's One Class At a Time award winner, or you would like to nominate a teacher, visit this link and submit a nomination.