April 2020 Winner - Brandi Nix:(Patrician Academy)
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Meridian Family of Stations -
Meridian Star Article
BUTLER, Ala. — As both a teacher and athletic trainer, Brandi Nix has the perfect job.
"It's a unique opportunity, because I never would have dreamed I'd have the best of both worlds," she said.
Nix's dual passions are just two qualities that earned her the Golden Apple Teacher award for April.
"I had no intention of ever becoming a teacher," said Nix, who's been teaching middle school science at Patrician Academy for the last nine years. "All I wanted to do was be an athletic trainer, and that was it...I never really imagined teaching full-time."
Nix was surprised when she found out when she was chosen for the award.
"I thought it was going to be a joke or something," she said. "I was in complete shock."
In a nomination letter, an administrator described Nix as a "person of many hats."
"She can do all this with grace, integrity, and Christian values," the letter reads. "I have been in education for forty years and served as an administrator for the last twenty, and I have never seen a person serve in so many roles as the splendid young lady."
Nix fell into teaching after taking a long-term substitute position, then went back to school to study education. She now works as both an athletic trainer and teacher at the school. With her background in athletic training, the transition to becoming a science teacher wasn't difficult, she said.
Nix said one reason she enjoys teaching is that the job is different every day.
"You never walk into the same atmosphere," she said. "They always have something new to tell you, and you get to interact with them."
She also enjoys seeing her students learn.
"When you see their faces light up, or when something clicks, or when they finally get something they struggled with, it’s the best feeling in the world that you had a small part in that," she said.
Nix plans to keep teaching for as long as she can.
"I believe this is where the Lord wants me to be right now, and until he reveals something different, I hope and pray this is where I get to stay," she said.
