2001 Alabama Teacher of the Year
Ms. Perry teaches English and Language Arts to grade eight students at Berry Middle School in Hoover, Alabama. She has been teaching for ten years. Ms. Perry was chosen as one of the four finalists for the National Teacher of the Year.

What are your beliefs about teaching?
"I truly believe that all children can learn. Teachers are a key ingredient in the success formula: quality teachers + quality programs = quality students."

How are your beliefs incorporated in your teaching style?
"In order to help children learn, I must equip myself with many strategies to meet the needs of different styles of learning."

What is your greatest teaching accomplishment?
"My greatest teaching accomplishment has been listening to my former students as they talk about how prepared they have been for classes, college and life thanks to the efforts of other teachers and me.

What's the most critical issue facing educators today and what do you think can be done to resolve this issue?
"The most critical issue for educators today is the shortage of teachers and professional development teachers. In order to resolve this issue, we must recruit and provide scholarships earlier to students – while they are in high school. We need to prepare pre-service teachers and retain present teachers with better professional development, pay and an induction program."

Inspirational thought:
"A qualified, caring and competent teacher influences the learning life of a child almost as much as a parent does."