NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. (WBBH) — At Bayshore Elementary in North Fort Myers, 5th-grade teacher Lindsey Maxwell has found her calling.
But working in education wasn’t always the plan.
She originally went to school for journalism. However, it wasn’t until she visited her sister Candyce – another Golden Apple teacher – that she knew she wanted to follow that same path.
“I remember walking out of (Candyce’s) classroom and going, ‘Oh my gosh – I’m so jealous she gets to do this every day,’” Maxwell recalled to NBC2. “So that was what kind of ignited it.”
That fire for teaching has only burned brighter since then.
Inside her classroom, you won’t find Maxwell or her students just sitting in chairs in the same spot all day. Kids are often up, moving around, and meeting with others in groups.
“She’s just really kind to us, and she makes us feel like we’re friends,” 5th-grade student Peyton Tillman explained. “She makes learning fun for us.”
“(It’s) almost like if I’m at a theme park,” 5th grader Donovan Zaragoza said of being in Maxwell’s class. “And we do these room transformations that literally make our room into a theme park.”
“It’s a lot of fun with purpose,” Maxwell explained. “If they understand the purpose, even while they’re having fun, in the back of their head, they’re going, ‘Oh, I know what she’s telling me. I’m making that connection. I see.’”
Maybe the biggest example of ‘fun with purpose’ is the House system Maxwell helped form at Bayshore.
Think Harry Potter and Hogwarts: everyone at the school – students, teachers, and staff – is sorted into one of four different houses.
It’s a program that perfectly aligns with Maxwell’s educational goals.
“My teaching philosophy is that all kids can learn, they just need to be held to a high expectation, and then they need the footwork and the plan to get there,” she explained. “(It’s) just motivation. And everything about the House motivates kids and gives them support and lifts them up.”
That support and sense of community are what Maxwell has worked so hard to achieve. Now, it’s earned her a coveted Golden Apple award.
“Everything that’s hers, (she) makes us feel like it’s ours too,” Zaragoza said. “Like that classroom? She doesn’t say it’s her classroom. She says it’s our classroom.”
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