Land O' Lakes High Agriculture Teacher Gets a Big Surprise

Land O' Lakes High agriculture teacher Kelly Rodgers looked a little shocked when her classroom door opened and a crowd of people poured in Tuesday.

But shock quickly turned to joy when Eric Kinney of Clear Channel Communications told her she had been chosen as Wesley Chapel Toyota's Teacher of the Month—then placed a $500 gift card in her hands.

In only her second year of teaching, Rodgers is the first Pasco County teacher to be selected for the award sponsored by Wesley Chapel Toyota and Clear Channel Communications.

Teachers from anywhere in the Bay area are eligible to be nominated by  students for the "I Love My Teacher" promotion, said Kinney, an account executive.

Students can nominate teachers at the websites of  WFUS 103.5 or WMTX 100.7, Kinney said.

"It's not necessarily the quantity, it's the quality behind the nominations," Clear Channel sales coordinator Christine Phares said.

Several of Rodgers' students nominated her for the award. Senior Avalon McMann, 17, was one of them.

She's done a lot for the program,  McMann said. "She brought the FFA chapter up from the dirt."

McMann described Rodgers as someone she can always talk to and laugh with, "like a big sister." Rodgers also is always available to help with extracurricular activities, McMann said.

"She's got a good heart," McMann said.

Senior Diamond Fields, 18, also nominated Rodgers for the award.

"She's just an awesome teacher. She inspires you to do the best you can," Fields said.

"She is a wonderful advisor but also a wonderful person," Fields wrote in her nomination.

Rodgers said she believes hands-on learning helps kids much more than reading from a book. That's the reason she has worked diligently to revitalize the agriculture program at the school.

"We worked really hard to get where we are," Rodgers said.

Clear Channel receives thousands of submissions every month, so "it's a high honor to be selected," Kinney said.

Rodgers had numerous nominations and "the students were really passionate about the influence she had on them," Kinney said.

Rodgers has transitioned the program from a traditional style of agricultural instruction to the more updated version we have today, Land O' Lakes High Principal Ric Mellin said.

Because of her innovations, Rodgers has increased enrollment in the agriculture program by about 50 percent since she began teaching at the school, Mellin said.

"Five hundred dollars is a pretty good amount of money to be surprised with," Rodgers said. "It will be nice Christmas shopping. I'm really appreciative."

"It's even more special that it came from her students," Mellin said. "It speaks volumes about her effectiveness in the classroom."