Mesa elementary school teacher wins Gaydos and Chad’s teacher tribute

PHOENIX — A Mesa elementary school teacher was named KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Gaydos and Chad Show’s Pay Tribute to a Teacher winner for September, presented by Your Valley Toyota Dealers.

Andrea Becker is a self-contained autism teacher for grades 3-6 at Salk Elementary School near Power and Brown roads. This year marks ten years of teaching for Becker.

She’s a compassionate advocate for her students, prompting one letter writer to nominate her for a $2,500 prize.

Becker said her responsibility is to bring children up to speed and into a general education setting.

“Despite the common thought about children with autism, they have a lot of empathy,” Becker said.

“Like today was kind of a rough day for some other reasons, and I had a couple of kids just come up and give me a hug, give me some love. We have such a family atmosphere in my classroom.”

Using the $2,500 she received, Becker intends to take her children to the beach.

She also wants to share some of the grant money with her aides, who she said have helped her tremendously.

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