Nancy Berry, an honored and recognized first grade teacher, creates a classroom she calls "Berryland USA: A Place Where Children Love to Learn." She teaches at Liza Jackson preparatory school (a charter school) in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. She inculcates love of learning into her students by instilling an attitude of respect and reassurance; by teaching to all learning styles: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile, etc; by accepting each of her students as a smart and capable learner; and by creating an imaginative classroom filled with butterflies, chrysalises, caterpillars, and hermit crabs. "I don't teach to a test," she says. "I teach to life. Children's lives depend on what I'm doing. It must be done positively." Her principal, Julie Jenzen, verifies her whole child approach: "There is nothing she won't do to make sure her children get everything they can from their first-grade experience."
Berry's teaching and personal influence upon the lives of first graders was affirmed by US Today when they selected her as a member of the 2007 All-USA Today Teacher Team. Previously, in 2000, she received a similar national honor when she was inducted into the Disney Hall of Fame. She has also achieved National Board Certification, a rigorous and demanding process that only five percent of American school teachers have accomplished. She has excelled as a role model and teacher in her twenty-three years of dedication to the teaching profession.
Nancy Berry, an honored and recognized first grade teacher, creates a classroom she calls "Berryland USA: A Place Where Children Love to Learn." She teaches at Liza Jackson preparatory school (a charter school) in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. She inculcates love of learning into her students by instilling an attitude of respect and reassurance; by teaching to all learning styles: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile, etc; by accepting each of her students as a smart and capable learner; and by creating an imaginative classroom filled with butterflies, chrysalises, caterpillars, and hermit crabs. "I don't teach to a test," she says. "I teach to life. Children's lives depend on what I'm doing. It must be done positively." Her principal, Julie Jenzen, verifies her whole child approach: "There is nothing she won't do to make sure her children get everything they can from their first-grade experience." Berry's teaching and personal influence upon the lives of first graders was affirmed by US Today when they selected her as a member of the 2007 All-USA Today Teacher Team. Previously, in 2000, she received a similar national honor when she was inducted into the Disney Hall of Fame. She has also achieved National Board Certification, a rigorous and demanding process that only five percent of American school teachers have accomplished. She has excelled as a role model and teacher in her twenty-three years of dedication to the teaching profession.