INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) —   WISH-TV celebrates extraordinary teachers in central Indiana with the WISH-TV Golden Apple Award.

The award comes with a trophy, $500 in cash thanks to our partners at Hensley Legal Group, PC, a school supply shopping spree to Teachers’ Treasures, and a surprise visit from the News 8 team.

September’s Golden Apple Award winner is Mrs. Tonya Gamble-Daoust. She’s a second grade teacher in Indianapolis at Tindley Genesis Academy. She brings warmth, love, and a bit of theatrics to her classroom. In fact, her use of songs and sayings helps students master math and reading.

“Always something new with Miss Gamble-Daoust,” assistant principal Aaron Book said. “It is hard to pick one thing for Tonya. She is above and beyond for not only her students, but the community and the families.”

“Her compassion for the kids, it just shines through,” literacy coach Robyn Treeter added. “The way she just has a great spirit.”

“She stays extremely late to makes sure everyone’s needs are met in her classroom” social worker Samantha King said. “Even today, she brought churro doughnuts.”

From sweet treats to sweet treatment in the halls, Mrs. Gamble-Daoust is a favorite among students.

“She cares about a lot of people, even people that’s not in her class. She still gives them all the love that she can give, even the whole school,” 8-year-old Izzy Latouche said.

Students say it’s the small things that make a difference, like singing songs to help with spelling.

“She just brings the love into her classroom and really gets them to buy into what she’s doing each and every day in her class,” physical education teacher Jordan Barnes said.

She embeds music, games, pop culture, and even some old-school acting from her time when she tried out for the show Saved By the Bell. She attended San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts in high school and performed in plays with cast members on the show.

Now she stars as the role of mom in life, bringing that mentality to teaching and finding ways to engage kids while making sure they’re taken care of along the way.

(photo provided by Gamble-Daoust)

Fellow teachers say students love Gamble-Daoust and don’t even realize they’re learning. She makes her classroom vibrant and fun. Coworkers say she is compassionate, charismatic, and most importantly, an advocate.

“She’ll call it out. She’ll let you know exactly what needs to happen for her students, for her families, and for her staff, for her co-workers. She is an advocate by far,” Book said.

As assistant principal, he describes Gamble-Daoust as the type of teacher every institution needs.

“She is above and beyond for not only her students, but the community and the families for our Tidnley network. She is a very energetic and very positive teacher for all of her students and also her teammates, her coworkers, her families. She’s just an advocate for everything that we do and everything that she does for her kids,” Book added.

That’s why he nominated her for the WISH-TV Golden Apple Award. So, along with her family and Hensley Legal Group, PC, the WISH-TV team went to surprise her.

Ryan Kreiker is a former teacher and now works for Hensley Legal Group. He presented the $500 check to Mrs. Gamble-Daoust. Then she watched a video from her students and coworkers.

“I am grateful. I love my job. I love my students. I tell them all of the time you are not just my student for this year, you are my student for life. We talk about our ‘college and our future dreams’ all of the time. So I am very grateful to know the impact I have made,” Gamble-Daoust said after the surprise.

When asked why she is an advocate for students, she said, “I just think it is really important everyone is treated equally and that equity is key. So we don’t all come from the same background, but we all have opportunities to get to the same greatness.”

She added that God has given her a gift to love people, and she loves people. She was the first in her family to go to college and hopes others can learn from her story.

“Somebody believed in me and I hope me believing in these babies is going to give them an opportunity and opportunities galore to go out and take on the world,” Gamble-Daoust said.