When Meadowview Christian School’s Rexene Redd’s name was announced Monday as this year’s Alabama Independent School Association teacher of the year, it may have come as a surprise to her, but not her students.

Redd was nominated by MCS’s student government association as one of school’s two candidates, but was shocked when she heard her name called.

“I cried,” Redd said. “I still cry when I think about it. I was really, really surprised and honored. I really was because the AISA is strong in academics. They put a lot of emphasis on preparing students in the classroom and outside of the classroom.”

Redd didn’t always aspire to be a teacher, though she now loves every minute of her job, her original passion out of Auburn was physiology and social work.

“That was my passion, that was what I wanted to do,” Redd said. “But I got married and my husband (Robert) wanted me to be a teacher. I had never thought about being a teacher, but I came here to Meadowview and at the time Steve Morgan was here. I had enough hours in English to qualify me to teach high school English and he gave me a chance. The moment I walked into the classroom and it was mine, I knew I was doing what I was suppose to be doing.”

Redd’s classroom doesn’t really stand out from the normal English room you see walking any high school halls. There are several books, some posters and whiteboards lining the walls, but it’s not the content of the room that Redd says makes her different, it’s her philosophy.

“I have found, really, the way I learned is not the way they learned,” Redd said. “For the most part, we did what we had to. If it was notes, then you took notes. The students aren’t really like that today. I try to be somewhat innovative and give them some interaction in the classroom. We try to play some games, but not always, because grammar isn’t fun all the time.”

The most important thing in the classroom according to her, however, is showing that you care.

“If they know you care about them, then it matters,” said Redd. “Teaching is a gift. They don’t have to take anything that they get from me. It’s a gift. If they know you care, most of the time you can get through to them.”