ADAM GAFF
Center Grove High School
2013-14 Teacher of the Year 

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Subject and Grade Level: Spanish, 9-12

Years of Experience: 7

Teaching is important to me because: To me, teaching is important because every student is important. I feel like the cliches begin to mount as we begin to discuss why we teach but that does not make those cliches any less sincere or relevant. The ability to impact students is a noble way to spend a career and as Shirley Mount Hufstedler says, "The role of the teacher remains the highest calling of a free people. To the teacher, America entrusts her most precious resource, her children and asks that they be prepared to face the rigors of individual participation in a democratic society." It is incredibly humbling to think that I have been allowed to work with students, to help them become their best selves and in doing so ultimately help our world to become a better place.