She has helped on numerous educational projects that include writing grants and helping with the development of a working farm at the high school, coordinating the school&squo;s senior project, developing an extensive online, interactive curriculum for her students and dabbling in recycling projects (learned from a former student who studied biodiesel as a senior project) that include making biodiesel and soap products from used cooking oil. You can read more at www.polkschools.org.

&dquo;There are many great teachers in the State of North Carolina, but I truly feel that anyone would be hard-pressed to find a teacher with more to offer than Ms. Weicker,&dquo; says Superintendent Bill Miller. &dquo;She uses her fine teaching skills to think and act outside the box and she develops her curriculum to keep students interested and inspired.&dquo;

Weicker has high expectations for herself and her students. The core of her teaching philosophy, she says, is to be innovative and passionate in sharing learning with her students and she adds that her greatest reward in teaching is her students and colleagues, who teach and inspire her every day.

&dquo;I have learned by example, by observing and appreciating the many teachers who have inspired my own children,&dquo; she says. &dquo;My goal is to help (my students) have choices and the skills to support those choices. I&squo;m honored that I am a part of their future.&dquo;

&dquo;Ms. Weicker exhibits genuine concern for the well being and success of the students in her charge and she teaches them so much more than language arts,&dquo; says Principal Aaron Greene. &dquo;She teaches students how to learn. She teaches them how to treat each other, how to maintain self-respect, how to work hard and why it pays off, how to navigate problems and confront obstacles and conquer them, and how to prepare themselves for the scary world-at-large. I respect and admire Ms. Weicker tremendously, and I am honored to call her a colleague.&dquo;

John Vining, a parent and the Polk County Extension director, who has worked with Weicker on numerous educational projects, agrees that she is indeed a dynamic and talented educator.

&dquo;Ms. Weicker not only teaches the content to her students, she challenges them to &squo;think.&squo; Personal responsibility, commitment and excellence are all words that a student would expect out of Ms. Weicker&squo;s class,&dquo; he says.

Weicker, who has taught for 11 years, will now represent Polk County Schools in the western regional TOY competition.&bsp;