Durbin Creek Elementary Teacher of the Week

ST JOHNS COUNTY, FL -- She's in her third year of teaching third graders at Durbin Creek Elementary and already Maryfrances Carroll is making a big difference.

"She knows when to push and knows when to let them discover and that's a gift. That's not something I can teach a teacher. They have to know that," said Principal Dr. Patricia Falaney.

Ms. Carroll keeps her students busy and interested whether they're in technology lab or making funny skeleton pictures.

Looking at the pictures on her classroom wall, Carroll explains for science, "The children pull out all the animal bones that an owl has digested; then we put it all together and fill in what was missing. It is disgusting and they love it."

It may sound gross, but it is part of how Carroll helps third graders learn and grow. "You get them at the beginning of the year and you can see their struggles and when they leave your classroom and they've learned it's one of the best feelings. There's nothing like it."

Carroll believes teaching is her calling. She left a big advertising job in New York City to come back to Jacksonville to teach and make a difference in kid's lives. "This is what I am meant to do. Every day there's a moment one of my students gives me that makes me realize, 'this is where I needed to be.'"

Several parents nominated Ms. Carroll for Teacher of the Week. Carroll says, "teaching is effortless for me so it's so nice do what I love to do."

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