SALUDA COUNTY, S.C. — "She makes everything fun. She just makes it easy and fun and understandable," says 5th grade student Layla Nichols.
"She does a great job with it. Because when she teaches, it's like not really teaching. She's teaching, but it's fun," says 5th grade student Shaun Kincaid.
Class at Hollywood Elementary School in Saluda County started with some adjectives to describe Mrs. Ashlee Morse. They included awesome, funny, caring and smart.
"I love fifth graders. I cannot see myself teaching in any other grade. I feel like I bond with them. They get me. I get them and I feel that every time I get a new grade, there's just a special bond. I definitely enjoy them," says Mrs. Morse.
Born in Rockwell, North Carolina, Mrs. Morse graduated from Pensacola Christian College in Florida. She started her career in her hometown, where she taught sixth through 12th grade at a private school for three years.
"I saw how much sixth graders struggled moving from elementary school, to middle school. Even how much I struggled. And then once I got up into the upper grades of middle school, I did not want them to struggle as much as I did. So then coming back to the actual classroom, I wanted them to be comfortable and not be afraid of moving on from elementary school to middle school," says Mrs. Morse.
Mrs. Morse met her husband and moved to Saluda County. She started teaching at Hollywood Elementary where she's been teaching 5th grade ELA for the past five years.
"I realized even though grades are important, I don't necessarily remember what I made in elementary school. But I do remember those students that treated me with kindness and respect," says Mrs. Morse.
That kindness and respect is what makes Mrs. Morse so special. Just ask her students Shaun and Layla.
"I think she deserves more awards just from how good she is at teaching us. She's really helpful and she deserves it because like, she's always there," says Layla.
"I'm very proud of her. And she's done a great job teaching us as a teacher. And she's amazing as a teacher. And she needs to keep going," says Shaun.
But there is another familiar face that walks the halls alongside Mrs. Morse.
"I know Ashlee is a teacher, but I also know her as my sister-in-law. And there's no better friend, no better teacher. She's all the time thinking about how she can make learning interactive for her kids. And how she can just make it meaningful for them," says Kelly Morse, a reading coach at Hollywood Elementary School.
Kelly sees firsthand the love Ashlee has for her students.
"She truly is a picture of what a good teacher is. She cares about her kids. She cares about them. As far as academically, but also just personally," says Kelly Morse.
As the school year comes to a close, and these students head off to middle school, Mrs. Morse has one goal in mind for her students.
"I really hope that they've learned how to be a kind person. That is one thing. Grades are important, but at the end of the day, are they a person that loves one another? Treat one another with respect and kindness? Because that goes a long way," says Mrs. Morse.
If you know a teacher like Mrs. Morse who deserves to be recognized for their hard work in the classroom you can nominate them by emailing us at TOW@WLTX.COM. Tell us what that educator is doing every day to go above and beyond in the classroom.