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Student, NFL give teacher honor

A Tampa elementary school teacher wins $500 and a Pro Bowl trip after an ex-student nominates her in 200 words.

By JUSTIN GEORGE
Published January 13, 2006

	[Tampa Bay Buccaneers]
	Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks, center, and L'Asia Maxwell, left, surprised Michelle Stone at Sheehy Elementary in Tampa on Thursday. Stone won $500 and a Pro Bowl trip as NFL Fan Teacher of the Year.

TAMPA - L'Asia Maxwell had 200 words to describe her favorite teacher. It seemed like an impossible task.

"200 words can't explain how great she was to me," said L'Asia, 13. But she tried.

Michelle Stone was the teacher who picked up L'Asia and her mother and took them to a tutoring program. She helped L'Asia's mother buy school uniforms. She buys L'Asia birthday gifts. She took L'Asia to college campuses to see a horizon the girl never expected to see.

"I live in the projects, and before Miss Stone, I never even considered college. That is just not what people in my neighborhood do," L'Asia wrote about her former teacher. "I will remember how she took me to her graduation from USF with her master's. I will remember how she took me to Disney World; somewhere I had never been."

On Thursday, Stone's special bond with L'Asia earned her a first-of-its-kind honor.

The Sheehy Elementary School teacher from Tampa was named the first NFL Fan Teacher of the Year, beating out 1,500 other nominees across the nation. The contest gives fans the same opportunity that NFL players have each year to nominate a teacher who has made an impact on their lives.

Stone was L'Asia's fifth-grade teacher at Sheehy Elementary in East Tampa. L'Asia is a seventh-grader at Stewart Middle School now, but the relationship between student and teacher has grown over the past two years. To L'Asia, her former teacher is a "second mother," and "the best thing that has happened in my life."

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, New York Giants running back Tiki Barber and Denver Broncos safety John Lynch, among other players on a contest panel, thought so as well. The NFL will give Stone $500 and a trip to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl. Her school gets $5,000. L'Asia's class gets a Super Bowl party. On Thursday, Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks and L'Asia surprised Stone, 38, in a classroom where a roomful of balloons, television cameras and an autographed Buccaneers jersey awaited.

Stone broke down in tears.

"She is a very caring teacher," Sheehy assistant principal Kathryn Dickens said of Stone, who was a finalist for the Hillsborough County Ida S. Baker Educator of the Year award. "She certainly goes the extra mile for her kids, not just with their academic progress but with their personal well-being, taking a personal interest in them."

With L'Asia, that meant introducing her to successful, inspiring women at Delta Sigma Theta sorority events. It meant trashing school papers she thought weren't the girl's best and making her write them over.

Stone said she's fond of all her students, but particularly those who act out. L'Asia fit that category, until Stone took the time to teach her other ways to express her anger, the girl said.

"I always take a liking to the kids who misbehave because I do the darndest to turn them around," said Stone, now a math resource teacher.

Stone says she and L'Asia have a lot in common, both having been raised by single mothers.

L'Asia, meanwhile, sees a common future.

She said she aspires to be a teacher.

An excerpt from L'Asia Maxwell's nomination letter:

(What) "I think I will remember is how I wouldn't be where I am if it was not for my 5th grade teacher Miss Stone. I live in the projects and before Miss Stone I never even considered college. That is just not what people in my neighborhood do. Miss Stone has encouraged me to do well in school. In fact, she is kind of like a second mom. She makes deals with me if I can earn certain grades. Therefore, I try hard. I really don't want to disappoint her. So I think I will remember her words of wisdom. I think I will remember how she told me I can be the first person in my family to get a college degree. ... I will remember how she took an interest in me. I will remember that Miss Stone is the best thing that has happened in my life."

[Last modified January 13, 2006, 01:47:08]