WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — For more than a decade Tiffany Willis has been teaching English, spending most of that time at Airport High School in Lexington District Two.
"Students are pretty much the same over the course of time," said Willis. "If you form relationships with them, you can get them to do pretty much anything."
Willis lives on the northeast side of town, but commutes to West Columbia because of the strong relationships she's developed with her co-workers and students. Relationships she says gave her strength on some of her darkest days.
"When I was going through the roughest years of my life, the students here and my co-workers showed me so much love and compassion," said Willis.
Mrs. Willis is suffering from a rare form a cancer. She's currently undergoing chemo treatment, but doesn't let her diagnosis slow her down.
"I know it's hard for her," said Jordan Spry. "I'm proud of her for the way she works. You couldn't ask for a better teacher."
It was a former student who wrote in and nominated Mrs. Willis as the News 19 Teacher of the Week. An honor, current students like Jordan Spry say is well deserved.
"Out of all the stuff that she's been through and she still comes to work," said Spry. "She motivates me to work harder in life."
If you know a teacher who deserves to be recognized for their hard work in the classroom you can nominate them by emailing us at TOW@WLTX.COM.