At Trafalgar Elementary in Cape Coral, there's an energy – an excitement – in Brittany Owen’s first-grade classroom.
All of it is by design.
“I'm very in tune with the students. I like to be on their level. I like to make learning fun,” Owen told Gulf Coast News. “It's OK to, like, get out of our comfort zone and just enjoy learning in different ways."
That includes what Owen calls "classroom transformations." They’re a lot of work, but students love them.
“She teaches us, like, good stuff. She makes learning fun,” first-grade student Jaxton Reyes said.
While Owen has been teaching for a while now, this is her first year at Trafalgar.
It feels like she’s taught there for years.
“I think it says that she is able to take with her, wherever she goes, who she really is,” assistant principal Beth Williamson said. “She has an amazing work ethic. And she just cares."
Putting in that extra time to make things special for students has now led to a well-deserved honor: a Golden Apple in Owen’s first year at a new school.
“It feels like a lot of feels,” Owen said. “It feels exciting. I feel like it almost doesn't feel real."
What else she feels is gratitude. Not just for those who honored her, but for her students too.
She made each of them their own Golden Apples, because they’ve helped make her feel right at home.
“I always bring it back to the kids,” Owen said. “If it wasn't for them, then obviously this wouldn't be possible. And everything I do is for them.”