2026 Lee County Golden Apple teacher: Alisa Brown at Diplomat Middle School

CAPE CORAL, Fla. —

At Diplomat Middle School in Cape Coral, life has come full circle for eighth-grade science teacher Alisa Brown.

If you open up an old Diplomat yearbook, you’ll discover she now teaches in the very place — and in the very classroom — where she once learned.

“Honestly, I don't remember a lot of my lessons from here, the things that my teachers taught me,” Brown said. “I just remember how the school made me feel. And they made me feel welcomed and loved, and that's really what I want for my kids now.”

Among the teachers who helped make the school feel that way was Tanya Norris.

Now, she’s an assistant principal at Diplomat, working alongside Brown.

“If there was a Golden Apple award for students, she would've been a recipient as a student too,” Norris said. “She's just that person. She's amazing. Always has been.”

In the classroom, Brown is a natural educator who brings her lessons to life.

“She tries hard, she does fun labs and it helps you learn better,” student Eliza Odom said. “And she's just really sweet and kind."

Considering it all, you might be surprised to learn that teaching was not Brown’s original plan.

In fact, science was her least favorite subject while in school.

She originally went to college to pursue other careers.

“After talking to so many mentors, everything kept bringing me back to education. They kept saying, 'You're lighting up when you're talking about schools, and education, and kids and all that.’”

Eventually, life did lead her back. She first started teaching at an elementary school but took the opportunity to move to Diplomat not long after.

While it may have been a winding road to get there, she knows she's right where she belongs.

And now, that winding road is lined with a little gold. She's among six teachers in Lee County to receive the Golden Apple award this year.

“This was not a perfectly straight road that I went down, to where everything happened. But everything did happen how it was supposed to,” Brown said. “It is so special to be back here.”

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