Honoring a teacher who gives everything to her students for Feel Good Friday

EastIdahoNews.com is partnering with Ashley and Ashley Outlet of Idaho Falls to honor people in our community for Feel Good Friday. Every week, we surprise someone deserving of special recognition.

We recently received a message about a teacher who has gone above and beyond for her students. Here’s what it said:

Kelcee is an amazing woman. She is a single mother of two kids who both have significant medical issues. Kelcee is a special education teacher at Taylorview Middle School and heads the DAC program (Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum) which is a self-contained classroom for children with more severe special needs. Our classroom has kids with intellectual disabilities, low-functioning ASD, medically fragile, and non-verbal students. Many of these students also have severe behavioral problems. She loves all of these students with her whole heart and does everything she can to help them succeed. She handles everything from medical emergencies to having to evacuate the classroom with grace and calmness. After a significant behavioral issue with a particularly difficult student, her response was, “he just needs to be loved.” She loves her students when most of us would back away. Because she is able to connect with and support these students so well, their growth in class is absolutely amazing. Kelcee truly has a gift for teaching special needs students. She seldom complains, even on the extra difficult days.

Kelcee is also the head track and field coach at IFHS. A position she loves and excels at but may have to give up to be able to take care of her own children. Financially, she may not be able to give up the head coaching position even though she needs to spend that time with her children.

At TMS, Kelcee will spend money from her own pocket to provide our students with enrichment activities and teach them life skills like cooking. She spends money on these students even when she herself is struggling to make ends meet. Kelcee is a strong and resilient woman who does everything in her power to make those around her be the best she can be. She is truly one of a kind and all who know her are blessed.

We decided to surprise Kelcee and thank her for all she’s done. Watch in the video player above.