Bermuda Institute grade six teacher Sonia Dawes has been named the 2014 Teacher of the Year by the Learning Disabilities Association of Bermuda.

Nominated by her student Xiaye Bradshaw, 11, Ms Dawes said she was “excited” and “humbled” after receiving the award.

In nominating her teacher, Ms Bradshaw spoke of how Ms Dawes taught her to believe in herself by seeing her potential and, because of that, her grades have improved and she has grown as a person and a student.

“It does make it extra special [to be nominated by a student],” said Ms Dawes.

“I have been teaching for 30 years and I just try to do my best and try to make learning interesting and exciting. [Winning the award] has inspired me to do even more.”

Ms Dawes also received an all-expense paid trip to the Learning Disabilities Conference in Chicago in February next year, where she hopes she can learn even more ways to become better as a teacher and impact the lives of students like Ms Bradshaw.

“My students inspire me. It’s very important [for teachers to be inspired and to inspire their students] because children spend most of their day with their teacher and they need to feel comfortable. I feel being a teacher is more than just math and arithmetic, you have to be there, laugh with them, play with them, that’s all important.”