Congratulations to Vanessa Lackey, Deer Creek’s nomination for Teacher Who Makes a Difference. She is a well-deserving Kindergarten teacher who has worked in our district for 15 years. Using an application called Socrative, her peers were asked to give input about the kind of teacher she is. There were several words that were repeated by many people: kind, role model, true team-player, a friend, professional, positive, and funny. Vanessa differentiates instruction taking the extra time to work with students who need extra guidance or provides enrichment for those ready to excel. She does this with insight and compassion, nourishing the lives she touches. She is passionate about kids and sees every child as an individual, noticing the gifts they bring to the classroom. In addition to helping children, she contributes to the staff acting as teacher in charge as well as providing needed supplementary reading instruction to struggling first graders. Vanessa is calm yet tenacious and has a heart of gold. Thank you for being such an inspiration in our school!