April Jan Dils Golden Apple Award winner - Donza Dawson

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) -

April’s Golden Apple Award recipient is best described as a team player and is willing to go the extra mile for her students.

Donza Dawson is a fifth-grade math teacher at Jefferson Elementary School. She has been teaching for 17 years, and 13 of those at Jefferson Elementary.

Her nomination describes her as a mentor and role model to new teachers, while also volunteering in any which way she can.

From serving on leadership teams, to working school carnivals, to even dressing up as a dinosaur to visit the kindergarteners during their dinosaur unit.

Dawson is the first one to arrive for the day and the very last person to leave. She said it’s her students that drive her to do what she loves.

“Always put the children first. That’s why we get up in the morning. That’s why we come here. Don’t think about it, sometimes it’s not about the academics, it’s about what they need that day and it may not be learning. It may be that they need a mom, or they may need a counselor, so it’s not always going to be about the academics.”

To nominate your favorite teacher, go to the Jan Dils Golden Apple section of wtap.com.

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