OCALA, Fla. — From celebrating to meeting challenges head on, Elizabeth Rockey is in her element at Saddlewood Elementary School in Ocala.

The recently nominated A+Teacher says, "We celebrate any and all progress. Third grade is a big year because it's a testing year. They are so overwhelmed with a big state test. Their teachers are sometimes overwhelmed and parents are overwhelmed, so just creating that love of reading just for the fun of it."

In Rockey's class, everyone has a place.

"My classroom is an inclusion setting where students with exceptionalities and those of the general education population get to mix and mingle together to meet grade-level standards," she says.

Inclusion, she explains, is where students of different abilities come together.

Rockey adds, "The beauty of it is that we get a level playing field that students get to see their peers be successful and they can help peers along in areas that they may be struggling in."

Rockey says students can at times even take on the role of the teacher.

She says, "And sometimes I just let them. There's lots of research just on that effectiveness of having a peer — just having someone kind of hold their hand and kind of be on the same level as them and talk their language if you will. It can be a very powerful thing for sure."

The topics she's teaching are critical subjects that she cares deeply about too.

"This year is the first year I'm focused just on reading and social studies. My passion and also what I'm studying in my doctorate studies at the University of Florida. Reading disabilities. So that's where my heart is," she explains.

It's a lot to juggle but her students’ success means the world to her.

Rockey adds, "Someone came in and said I can't tell who your ESE kids are and I said, 'Well I know that's kind of the point! They're just kids. They just need different support— more intensive support,'” she says. “The system is not always built to advantage my students or students of color or students who are on the margins, so I want to serve and love them because that's my heart and mission in life."