Environmental Science teacher Mashika Tempero – Culliver has been named as one of the 16 finalists for Alabama’s Teacher of the Year.

“Each has excelled in the classroom and is preparing all students for success through mentorship, innovative classroom instruction, and a personal commitment to academic achievement,” according to a press release from the Alabama Department of Education (ALSDE).

Culliver read her letter on Monday morning saying that she was a finalist.

“I was just overwhelmed honestly,” she said. “I’m a Christian and I love the Lord, and I just remember filling out the application.”

Tempero-Culliver was named the Secondary Teacher of the Year for the state’s Division V.

Having grown up in poverty, Tempero-Culliver was awarded the Gates Millennium Scholarship to pursue her education at Auburn University, where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in biomedical sciences.

Tempero-Culliver went on to earn a Master of Education degree in secondary biology from Auburn University in Montgomery, an education specialist degree in instructional technology from the same institution and is now a prospective PhD student.

“As I was going through the application it was a lot of work and time and I prayed and fasted and I didn’t think I would get it,” she said. “The other winners are more veteran and experienced teachers. I may not get it but one thing I take pride on is where it says in the Bible ‘work with all your heart as unto the Lord and not unto man’ so I thought it is fine if I don’t get it but I don’t want to not get it and not give everything I have to what they are asking me to do.”

Tempero-Culliver said she spent “countless hours” working on the application.

One question, in particular, talking about how she engaged students in learning let her be able to show how she uses regional examples in her teaching.

Problems in Uniontown with water treatment and sewage problems in Lowndes County were some of her examples.

“I picked a lesson where I engage students in a way where it is culturally relevant where you meet them where they are and using examples to connect them with things they are already familiar with,” she said. “Students want to feel competent and they want to be part of the learning environment and no matter what learning level they are, they should be able to connect with what is going on and so I used Uniontown in my environmental science.

“I opened with this example one time and the room just got silent,” she said. “I can talk about Michigan but it is just something that is here. What stood out to me is one of my learners was one of the first ones to respond … because he lived in Uniontown he was able to relate to the example. I did another one with Lowndes County and the sewage. They are more responsive to a local impact. My biggest teachers have been my students.”

Tempero-Culliver talked about her journey to the Selma City School system.

“When I graduated, I got many different job offers and it was interesting that I had a peace and I was going where God wants me to go,” she said. “God gave me this heavy piece about coming to Selma which was hard for me to accept because I lived in Montgomery.”

Tempero-Culliver even denied a job offer in Montgomery that was just five minutes from her apartment.

“My first two years I traveled,” she said. “It was a week of wrestling. Everybody told me it didn’t make sense but what I learned was that God’s ways are above our ways. It was such a peace and every year it has been flowing and the Lord has matured me through it. It has taught me patience and I have always had a heart for people but seeing that in a deeper way. My passion is to help. It was God and He’s been confirming it every year and even this is confirmation for me.”