MADISON, Alabama — Ms. Rhonda Williams teaches sixth-grade gifted education at Discovery Middle School in Madison, and she's this week's Valley's Top Teacher.
Ms. Williams uses drones, 3D printers and artwork to help her students think outside of the box.
"Students are able to paint and create beyond typical projects or peer similar projects, so they can actually take their ideas and be very innovative and forward-thinking," Ms. Williams said.
Her students embrace this creativity, and they recognize how lucky they are to have her as a teacher.
"She's a great teacher," said sixth-grader Ryan Christian. "She really does care about us, and has a great classroom here, all of our projects are really fun. They're different and they're interesting."
Even Assistant Principal Kurt Yancey has noticed how awesome Ms. Williams is.
"Ms. Williams works extremely hard," Yancey said. "Not to just teach students, but to build relationships with all of her kids. She is very innovative, she works in our gifted program."
Principal Yancey loves stopping by her classroom to see what she and her students are up to.
"They may be using a 3D printer," Yancey explains. "They may not be in their classroom, they may be outside or in the outdoor classroom. They may be doing anything that's relevant to real-life projects. They're constantly trying to implement probably a lot of designing."