Baby Nisha Paramba (Nisha N.P) -Bamberg School District Teacher of the Year!!

Report by: Joychen Puthukulam

Baby Nisha Paramba (Nisha N.P) -Bamberg School District Teacher of the Year!!

Her students may tower over petite Baby Nisha Paramba (Nisha N.P), but the Bamberg School District Two Teacher of the Year is a giant in the classroom.

Paramba, a native of India who traveled halfway around the world to teach in South Carolina, is not only leading her students to academic success, she’s also teaching them to love science.

They say she makes class interesting and they know she cares about them.

Thomas Bailey is one of Paramba’s eleventh-grade students who earned a perfect score on the end-of-course science test last year.

“She makes the lessons interesting because she shares things about her personal experiences when she teaches – maybe the way she learned it,” he said.

Yvonne Serrano, who also earned a perfect score on her EOC, said she learns something new every day in Paramba’s class.

“Ms. Paramba gives a lot of detail until we have a clear understanding,” she said. “She relates the lesson to our bodies and helps us see how lucky we are to have those systems working well.”

Serrano, who plans to become a family doctor, says Paramba inspired her to study science in college.

Tanesha Wright says Paramba is a “wonderful teacher” who really cares about her students.

“She does everything she can to help her students learn,” Wright said. “She’ll stay after school and tutor you and make you understand it.”

Paramba is a very hands-on teacher, and all three students say their favorite classes were the ones in which they dissected a sheep’s heart, a chicken wing and a frog.

Paramba’s peers say her recognition that every child is a special, unique individual and her determination to bring out the very best in each one is what sets her apart as the district’s number one teacher.

Sandra Isaac, a special needs teacher, says Paramba created a program for special needs students and included them in the science fair last year.

“My kids loved it,” Isaac said. “One of them built a copy of the first telegraph system, and he won second place. She is able to make them feel a part of the class, and that’s what it’s all about.”

Denmark-Olar High School Assistant Principal Belinda Hilliard says Paramba is “persistent, consistent and hard-working.” And she has high expectations for all of her students.

“She gives so much to all of them. If she has one who is struggling, you’ll notice she’s sitting or standing by them to make sure they get it,” Hilliard said. “And she can pull it out of them.”

Paramba says she’s always wanted to teach, and played at teaching as a child. She believes every child “is born with all the building blocks” necessary to make them successful in life and able to contribute to society.

“So I believe, as a teacher, it’s my responsibility to make the child realize that he or she has the capacity to do and it’s my duty to motivate them to achieve their goal,” she said.

Paramba uses an LCD projector to show computer simulations that help students understand their lessons.

She also stays in close contact with parents.

“Every parent cares about their child. They like to hear about their progress,” she said.

Paramba says she also uses incentives to motivate students that can be as simple as praise in front of their peers or something as big as a gift card when a student has done particularly well on a major test or at the end of the semester.

Her reward is the satisfaction she gets from the success she sees in her students, she said.

Report by: Webmalayalee News Network [WNN]