Golden Apple Award: Angela Griffith
Angela Griffith has been teaching at Blessed Sacrament School for the past three years, but she has 20 years in education.
She decided this would be her career, in the 4th grade.
'I had a teacher Mr. Perotto who used to play his guitar every morning and taught us old-time rock and roll songs. I just really appreciated the way he taught us, so I wanted to be a teacher too,' said Griffith.
Two decades in, and there's still joy and passion for those special moments in class
'I know its really cliche to say but those light bulb moments going on. Aha moments. I like making learning fun, engaging and hands-on. And treating my students the way I would want my own children to be treated by their teachers,' said Griffith.
This week's student nominator said his teacher gave him the confidence to not give up on himself or his school work. Mrs Griffith said education isn't one size fits all.
'She helps me with my work. Like when I'm struggling and having a bad day she like comes to me and calms me down. She does things like that,' said Enrique Maldonado, student nominator. 'When I think I can't do something she'll come up to me and she'll like boost me up and she'll say I can do it.'
'When I assign work it's not always the same exact work for each student. It will be the same content, the same topic. But I'll adjust it to where they're at. Because one size does not fit all and theyre not all at the same level. So meeting them where they're at and slowly building up on it,' said Griffith.
'I hope that we all believe that in life we meet that someone that will always enable us to be that someone we were meant to be. And for Enrique, that's this week's Golden Apple teacher, Mrs. Griffith,' said Mary Jo Melivn PhD, Pennwest University.
Each week our partners at Big Ideas Learning financially reward the Golden Apple winner
'Teachers like Mrs. Griffith that make an impact and understand the students and meet them where they are, are so impactful and meaningful. And we're so happy to donate $250 to this week's Golden Apple teacher, Mrs. Griffith,' said Carissa Snarski, with Big Ideas Learning.
Congratulations Angela Griffith this week's JET 24 PennWest University Golden Apple award winner.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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