Edith Battle

Position: Academic Coach - Middle School & Language Arts Literacy

School: Newark Early College at West Side High School

School District: Newark Public Schools

City, State: Newark, New Jersey

About the Nominee: Edith Battle was nominated by a former student, Lauryn Banks.Lauryn still uses the knowledge she gained from Ms. Battle today, and will continue to use it in the future. The resonance of Ms. Battle's words during a past lesson guides Lauryn through some tests today.Regardless of the challenges she faced, Ms. Battle never once gave up. Lauryn admits his may be what a teacher is "supposed" to do, and this may be "their job," but how many teachers can you say have done their job and enjoyed doing it?Ms. Battle is a LifeChanger because she is always filled with joy when teaching her students, regardless of the circumstances. The joy of her instruction gives her students the joy of learning. Students who have her as a teacher improve in their reading levels. Lauryn, for example, jumped two reading levels in one month while in her class, and made even more progress by the end of the year. At the end of the school year, she was a seventh grader reading on a 10th grade level. Many of her peers made drastic improvements, as well. The students had all learned to love reading and value their education. Lauryn truly believes this is part of the cause of her academic success today. Ms. Battle made a mark, not only on Lauryn, but on all her students. For this, she is indeed a LifeChanger.

[nominee_videos nominee_email="ebattle@nps.k12.nj.us"]