Kristen Deere, a teacher at Poplarville Lower Elementary, was named Nissan of Picayune’s Teacher of the Week.

Deere teaches the special needs preschool program at that campus, focusing on students between the ages of 3 to 5.

She has been teaching for the past 11 years, four years of which have been in the Poplarville School District.

Her favorite part of teaching is seeing the proud looks her students display after accomplishing something that was previously a challenge.

“Nothing is more rewarding than when their little faces light up with joy! In this program, we work with nonverbal children. Hearing a student speak for the first time is a priceless gift to me as their teacher,” Deere said.

“Before anything else, I want my students to know that I love them. I want them to know neither of us will ever give up. We will work together. I want them to explore all their interests and find their talents. Most of all I want them to leave my class with the utmost confidence for kindergarten,” Deere said.

She graduated the University of Southern Mississippi where she studied speech therapy. Deere said her grandmother inspired her to get into special education and she is now fortunate to be able to work in her hometown school district with many of her former teachers.

“I worked as a speech therapist for six years, but I always wanted to do more. I then worked as a K-2 inclusion teacher and learned so much about many other challenges beyond the realm of communication. Working with preschoolers, getting to do all of the above, has been such a blessing!”