WAYNESBORO, Ga () Amy Bruce helps her Burke County High School students get a firm grasp of English Language Arts. They learn so much in her classroom.

“We do reading, writing and grammar,” Bruce says. “We also teach them how to present and their skills regarding how to talk in front of people. So pretty much what I’m doing right now.

And that’s the kind of skillset that can carry you far in life.

“It will help them in the future when they’re trying to do their job skills, looking for a job and how they present themselves, and who they are. In fact, we just finished doing an Identity Unit for them to search on who they were and what defines them.”

Mrs. Bruce cares about her kids as students and as individuals.

“They have to relate to their teacher. If they don’t relate to their teacher, in some type of way, they won’t learn. My job is not just to teach them but it’s to teach them how to learn. And I have to know who they are in order to teach them.”

This is Mrs. Bruce’s first year as a high school teacher. She comes here after making stops in 6th, 7th and 8th grade classrooms.

“I’m loving the students,” she says. “I’m loving what they bring in. We can have different types of conversations than we could in middle school.”