A long-time teacher has received Fulton Public School District's teacher of year award.
Stacey Bonderer has been teaching for 35 years and has been teaching for 10 years with Fulton School District.
Bonderer teaches all different high school levels. She teaches English and debate.
She has two children, both graduated from Fulton High School.
A memorable moment for Bonderer during her time at Fulton was having both her daughters in her classes.
She said it's a series of happy little things that have happened during her time at Fulton School District.
Teaching Advanced Placement Composition for the first time was a moment she said she will never forget.
Bonderer has received other awards in the past such as Coach of the Year for Debate, but this is the biggest one with a lot of meaning, she said.
"It's a very special award," she said. "It's meaningful to do the best you can do and have someone say 'yeah, that was good.'"
Bonderer was awarded teacher of the year out of 450 of Fulton School District's staff.
Principals nominate one teacher and one staff member from each of their buildings for Support Staff and Teacher of the Year.
An anonymous committee meets to review all of the nomination forms.
Of all the subjects Bonderer taught, she said, she loves to teach English Three Honors.
"I love the age of the kids," she said. "I love the curriculum and I love the challenge that they have to know everything in one year. It's the hardest curriculum because they have to have literature and have writing, and ACT prep."
Bonderer said she likes to support her students and make them feel confident. She also said she learns something new every year from her students.
This is Bonderer's last year teaching at Fulton School District as she accepted a position at William Woods University in the college of education. She will be an assistant professor of literacy next fall.
"Stacey has served in many leadership roles at the high school. Her mentorship, support, knowledge and focus on improving student engagement will be greatly missed," said Kati Boland, Fulton High School principal. "We are excited for Stacey's next step and know that she is the right person to help prepare our future teachers."