KISSIMMEE, Fla. — An Osceola County A+ Teacher's heartbreaking experience years ago with homeless students has motivated her, and years later she's found a way to challenge a different group of students here in Central Florida by setting the bar high.  

Christina Conde-Helman says, "No matter who you are, no matter what color your skin is, what gender you are it's important to know what your rights are and my class is doing that for them."

Conde-Helman loves immersing her eighth graders in civics and world history at Kissimmee Middle School in Kissimmee where she teaches.

"I encourage them to share their opinions and their ideas. I really want to create a safe learning environment for them where they're free to make mistakes and then learn from them," she said.

Conde-Helman's own love of learning started very early.

"So when I was little I used to set up my dolls as a classroom and take attendance and start teaching them," she recalls.

As she grew older she taught at summer camps in New York City. In college, she taught at an afterschool program at a homeless shelter.

Conde-Helman says, "So a lot of the students I worked with back then — they came from broken families — a lot of instability and I think providing them with a stable place — a stable learning environment and giving them role models to look up to was a big thing for me."

But while on vacation in sunny Florida, she applied for a teaching job and says, "I realized this was a place where they needed me just as much as my kids needed me back home."

Conde-Helman has been in the classroom ever since. With cherished memories of her previous students, she pushes her current students to keep growing. 

"I challenge them and hold them to very high expectations. I want the best out of them. I really can't imagine doing anything else," she says.