March 2024 Winner - Michael Franklin:(Newton County High School)
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Meridian Star Article
The March Golden Apple teacher of the month is Michael Franklin an American history teacher at Newton County High School. With his family's past, Mr Franklin was destined to teach history.
"My dad's dad Quitman Franklin he built ships he was physically unable went to Camp Shelby multiple times and they finally said you can't qualify he had a bad back. I tell the kids in class he's like a Captain America and so he moved to New Orleans and built ships during the war in my classroom. I have one of the pictures of one of the ship that he built and so it's a daily reminder of this is this is what I'm doing this for this is who I'm doing this for this is my passion."
Having a positive influence on his students lives is one of the main reasons that he teaches. "I teach State Testing and so when I get in that room I have 15 eyes 25 eyes looking at me and they're depending on me to get them through the state test. So, the most gratifying thing for me is watching them walk across stage and graduate and know that I was a small part of that to help them get to that point. But it's being a difference and I try to be a difference every day here."
Not every school day can be perfect but Mr Franklin talks about what makes his favorite kind of day. "A great day is when I'm passionate about what I'm teaching about or what I'm talking about and those kids are nodding their heads and I'm looking around the room and they're nodding their heads in approval, or they're they're ask raising their hand saying hey can you tell me more about this that. That that's a great day and when maybe that struggling kid finally understand something or they get excited about something or say hey my grandfather was in World War II or Vietnam. Or you know my dad was in Desert Storm or we heard stories or you know I went home and I told my parents about what we were talking about and they said well didn't you know that you had your family member that was a part of this those are some of the days that kind of take it to a different level make it excellent."
