ORLANDO, Fla. — Teachers like Susan Fray are having a positive impact on the lives of their students. The lessons she is teaching are ones her students can use for years to come.
Susan Fray shows her sixth graders the ways they can stay safe when they are online, saying, “Never give your information out.”
As the research/critical thinking teacher at Legacy Middle School in Orlando, she enjoys making sure they are prepared. “As a kid I never got the things that they’re getting to learn now,” she said.
Fray is teaching skills that are the building blocks for their future.
“I do a lot of social emotional in my class. I want the kids to have an opportunity to feel like they’re valued,” she explained.
Each student is valued in her classroom.
“So for me it’s giving them an opportunity to grow to be who they want to be and to be supported for what their choices are all the way through,” she said.
For Fray, a teaching career was not her first choice.
“I started realizing that no matter what I do I’m teaching. When I was in corporate America, I was still teaching. When I was younger, I was teaching something,” Fray said.
Becoming a teacher in the classroom for Fray was a process. “So I came in and started teaching through substitute teaching and fell in love with this school and just kept coming in until they hired me,” she explained.
She says her kids bring her the most joy.
“They do. Every day!” she expressed. “I’m sorry. Every day. If I’m not here with the kids, I feel a little lost.”