Previous Golden Apple winners have received their awards amid the cheers of gathered students and co-workers.

    However, Northeast Middle School math teacher Niki Martin got a parade.

    Martin was named queen of her own Mardi Gras parade when the eighth-grade math teacher was named the February Golden Apple Teacher of the Month. Martin, a 12-year veteran, is the fourth Northeast Middle School teacher to win the monthly award that recognizes the best teachers in East Mississippi.

    “Very shocked, but since I knew three other teachers here had gone through it, I kind of recognized what was happening,” Martin said. “Still, I’m very honored. I’d like to thank all the sponsors, our administration, my students and my fellow co-workers.”

    As the February Teacher of the Month, Martin was awarded $1,000 in school supplies by the Golden Apple Partners in Education, a $500 tuition voucher, and $300 cash. Martin will also be in the running for the Teacher of the Year Award, which will be announced on May 28. The winning teacher will receive a $2,500 prize and a $2,500 scholarship for a graduating senior of their choice.

    Mike Reed, one of the presenting sponsors for the Golden Apple Award, said Martin was a worthy choice for the February honor.

    “She has gone above and beyond and has done an exceptional job here,” Reed said. “This (Northeast Middle) has become one of our favorite schools.”

    Northeast Middle School Principal Billy Burnham said he has seen Martin grow both as a person and an educator in his eight years at the school.

    “What people forget about these teachers is that they have lives outside of school,” Burnham said. “She has two lovely children and a husband. When I met Niki eight years ago, she was a young single woman. Now, she has a family with children; and I saw her grow into that.”

    Martin is married to Corey Martin of Meridian. They have two children, Madi, 5, and Ally, 23 months. Madi got to ride with her mother as the Northeast Middle School students lined the halls during the impromptu Mardi Gras-themed parade.

    “The whole Mardi Gras theme was great,” Martin said. “Getting to throw beads and seeing all the smiles from the students – it’s a day I won’t soon forget.”

    Martin is a Northeast Lauderdale girl who grew up in the school system and returned to teach there. After graduating from Northeast Lauderdale High School, she received her education degree at Mississippi State University.

     Ironically, she said it was her seventh and eighth grade math teacher, Pam McDonald, who had the biggest influence in her choosing a career in math.

    “Mrs. McDonald’s class – that’s where I discovered my love for math,” Martin said. “It was an algebra class. Maybe it was her teaching style, but I just had a better understanding of it.”

    When Martin was a freshman at Mississippi State, another light binged.

    “When I started, I knew I wanted to do something in the math field,” Martin said. “But it wasn’t until my first year in college when I took college algebra that I decided I wanted to teach math.”

    Martin said she feels rewarded every time a student gets an understanding of math, which is not always a favorite subject of most students.

    “The reward is seeing the students learning,” she said. “When they can listen to me and then turn it around and give it back to me and then take it to another level, that’s the best. To see them take that step forward, you just get a great sense of satisfaction that they learned something from a lesson or activity that day.”

    Martin drives her students to excel.

    “I have high expectations for my students,” she said. “The curriculum has changed a couple of times in the 12 years that I’ve taught. I think I have a better understanding of math now and its made me a better teacher. I think they know I care for them. I feel I’m fair with all students. One of the previous Golden Apple winners, Ms. Moody, said you know you’re doing good when they know you care.”

    One of her students, Joby Griffith, said Martin knows her material.

    “She is a very good teacher,” Griffith said. “She takes her time so that we can learn the lesson.”

    Proper preparation comes from the administration of Burnham and his staff, Martin said.

    “He’s very respectful and he always makes me feel appreciated and proud to work here,” she said of Burnham, who has been a long-time educator in Lauderdale County. “Under his leadership, I have gotten better in the classroom.”

    With Common Core assessment tests looming for middle school math students, Martin has devoted a lot of time to make sure her Trojans are ready.

    “We have been working real hard on it,” she said. “It’s a tough test; we don’t want them to be overwhelmed. That’s why we’ve reviewed things we might have learned back when we started last semester.”

    La-Z-Boy of Meridian is this month’s sponsor. The Golden Apple Award is open to any educator, kindergarten through 12th grade, who works in Lauderdale, Neshoba, Kemper, Clarke and Newton counties in Mississippi, or Choctaw and Sumter counties in Alabama.

    More details and an entry form are available online at www.meridianstar.com and wgbctv.com Those interested in nominating a teacher should go to either of the websites, and click on the Golden Apple logo.

Golden Apple sponsors

       Presenting sponsors are The Meridian Star and The Meridian Family of Stations, which includes NBC 30, CBS 24, and Fox 30.

    Key sponsors are: East Mississippi Electric Power Association (EMEPA); Law Offices of Richard Schwartz; MUNA Federal Credit Union; Mississippi Power Company; LA Z Boy – Newton; Mississippi State University – Meridian; Avery Products; Meridian Community College; and Woodstock Furniture.

    Participating sponsors are Newell Paper Company, Hilton Garden Inn, Meridian; Southern Pipe & Supply Co., Meridian Coca-Cola Bottling Company; John O’Neil Johnson Toyota-Hyundai, and the University of West Alabama.