Part of an ongoing series featuring the teachers nominated for Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce’s Teacher of the Year honors.

To Brenda Kay Angel, there is no one right way to learn.

When students are struggling in her classroom, Angel is going to work to find the right way to teach them. If they are struggling in reading maybe that is more one-on-one time. If the issue is writing, maybe partner them with a classmate who is doing well.

“When you find one who is struggling, you have to find many different ways of presenting things to find a way they can be successful,” Angel said. “Once you find that way, just a little bit of success from them makes them go so far. I just try to, no matter what subject it may be, I have a lot of different ways.”

Angel’s dedication to helping the students is born out of her own struggles as a student and the teachers who dedicated time to help make her successful.

“When I was growing up I struggled as a student and I had two teachers along the way who really encouraged me and I wanted to be one of those teachers who could help and encourage other kids,” Angel said.

Angel is a third grade teacher at Porter’s Chapel Academy and is her school’s nominee for the Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce’s Elementary Teacher of the Year.

She graduated from Delta State University with a bachelors in elementary education in 1983 and has been teaching at Porter’s Chapel for 30 years.

“I am very proud to be nominated for teacher of the year,” Angel said. “I know there are wonderful teachers at our school who deserve this too. To be chosen by them, there are not many words to say.”

Angel works with her students to find how they can be successful and also to unlock the hidden talents they didn’t even know they had. For one student who had been forced to repeat a grade after struggling, it was when she found a talent for drawing and the ability to express herself that she finally started to excel academically.

“The look on their face and you know that they’ve got it, it is one of those feelings of that is why I’m a teacher,” Angel said. “I love those ah-ha moments when they finally do get it.”

After teaching for 30 years Angel said she still enjoys getting to meet her new students and their parents each year and watch the students grow.

“From where they start the year to where they end is just amazing to me each year,” Angel said.

The Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce will choose one elementary and one secondary teacher of the year at the chamber luncheon Feb. 21. The winner of each award will receive $1,000 from Ameristar Casino and the runner-up for each award will receive $500 from Mutual Credit Union.

“It would be a great honor,” Angel said of her reaction if she won the award. “I would not have words for it. I know there are people out there who work hard and do a lot.”