Highest honor given to Coast teacher

One of the Gulf Coast’s hardworking educators just accepted the highest honor given to K-12 teachers.

It’s called the Presidential Award for excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching – and it’s the Holy Grail of grade school teachers everywhere.

The principal of Bayou View nominated Millicent Gunter, better known as Mandy to her peers. When Mandy filed her application, she let it go and didn’t expect anything to come of it – until the White House got in touch. “I was just blown away. Like I said, I thought I was going to submit and be done with it. And it’s just a tremendous honor to be selected for this award.”

None of it would have happened without the support of Mandy’s dear friend and principal Tess Lawrence – who saw the potential. “She’s a very approachable teacher, she cares about her students, she mentors her colleagues, she gives her best every day and she’s passionate about her work. Kids just love math when they come out of her classroom.”

Mandy has been a teacher for 32 years. She’s big on using the latest education tools in the classroom. We asked her what makes her keep at it after all this time – in a word, what gets her heart racing. “I just love it. I love the way their little brains work, the conversations we have. It’s just a great job to have.”

Each year a panel of scientists, mathematicians and educators submit their recommendations to the White House – lending credibility to this monumental achievement.