ORLANDO, Fla. — A parent's nomination of her son's teacher, Kathleen Chen, for the Orange County A+ Teacher described her as selfless, dedicated, caring, and loving.

Chen teaches second-graders at Palm Lake Elementary School in Orlando and is motivated to always put others' needs before her own after a coach did the same thing for her when she was a young student.

"I really want to make sure that my students believe in themselves and know that they are loved," Chen said.

For Chen, it's her top priority. "One of my mottos is, ‘Once you step into my classroom, you are part of my family,’ " Chen said.

The parent who nominated her said Chen creates a magical learning environment with a superhero theme to make the children feel special and parents always feel included. 

"Let's just say in the pandemic, I had a lot of families that were working from home as well as helping to teach," Chen said. "If they were stressed out, I wanted them to know that they could always lean on me and that I was always their support as well as their child's support."

Chen said she wants to pay it forward because her mentor, Coach Eric Spee, went above and beyond to help her family when she was in the sixth grade.

Chen became emotional when she explained how he supported her during a tough time, "When my dad was sick, he was there to encourage me," Chen said. "He was just like a father figure." 

Sadly, her father passed away nine years ago. 

All this time, though, Spee has remained in her family's life and even officiated her wedding.

She said Spee made a big impact on her life, "It's just because my dad was sick and my mom worked full time, and my sister and I were always at school, and it's like he was always that encouragement."

His influence at the right place and at the right time is something Chen said she will never forget. She's on a mission to do the same for others.

"I also want to help them that way because the same thing was done for me," Chen added.