Brooke Whittington, 4th grade teacher at BES and 2023 Florida Teacher of the Year finalist, stands with 2024 Teacher of the Year Adrianna Swearingen

By Brooke Whittington
4th Grade Teacher
Bell Elementary School
Bell Elementary School has started the year with a CELEBRATION of READING! Our 2024 Florida Teacher of the Year, Adrianna Swearingen, was able to spend part of her day with 4th graders at BES. Mrs. Swearingen read the story “Demi the Different Donut” written by local author, Allie Rolling, and helped our students understand that we should all love who we are, without trying to be just like everyone else, as Mrs. Rolling so beautifully portrayed throughout her words! Our 4th graders autographed the book she read, and then gifted her with her very own copy to take along her travels and teach other children to just be themselves throughout her journeys as Florida Teacher of the Year.
Students then followed along as “Chrysanthemum” was read aloud to them by Mrs. Whitt. Little did our students know, but they were taking their own copy of this book home! Through donations from our supportive community, each student left school that day with a copy of “Chrysanthemum.” After completing both stories, our students sparked conversation, comparing these two great stories, noticing that they had very similar life lessons!
Mrs. Swearingen then helped our students pick out a Reading Buddy to go home with them! Our community strikes with awesomeness…AGAIN! Every single 4th grader went home with a stuffed toy to read to! The purpose of these “Reading Buddies” is to boost the confidence and comprehension of our young readers, all the while, making them LOVE to be lifelong readers!
Mrs. Macy’s class took their Reading Buddies on a little reading adventure by engaging in “Flashlight Friday,” reading quietly to their new helper!
We are proud of our students, proud of our community for helping build better readers, and PROUD to be a Bulldog!