NATCHEZ — When Shelia Sewell was just 10 years old she was teaching her history class at Sadie V. Thompson.

But even before her history teacher gave her a chance to run the class, she knew teaching was her calling.

“This is what I’ve always wanted to do,” Sewell said.

Years later Sewell’s love of teaching has paid off.

Sewell was named the Natchez-Adams School District’s teacher of the year for the 2008-2009 school year.

Sewell, a fourth grade reading teacher at McLaurin Elementary, said being named teacher of the year by her peers and district administrators is an honor.

“It’s awesome,” she said. “I work to make this fun for the kids. Everything I do is for the students, and I feel like I’ve earned this.”

Sewell, a product of the Natchez-Adams public school system, said her main objective in teaching is to make learning fun.

“If they’re having fun they’ll be learning, and they don’t even know they’re working,” she said of her students.

And Sewell will go to great lengths to keep her students entertained.

She smears their desks in shaving cream for them to practice spelling in and she takes them to the schoolyard for an Easter egg-like synonym-antonym hunt.

“There aren’t many teachers like her,” McLaurin Principal Alice Morrison said. “She keeps her students constantly entertained and learning. She’s an entertainer and a teacher. She’s awesome.”

Morrison said while Sewell is working to make her lessons fun for her students, she is actually making lasting connections with them.

“She has the ability to connect with them on their own level,” Morrison said. “That’s something students won’t forget.”

But Sewell is not alone in her ability to connect with students.

Friday morning Robert Lewis Middle School’s eighth-grade science teacher Annette Tyler was waiting for students to arrive as she set up her classroom.

Tyler was named RLMS teacher of the year and has taught in the district for three years.

Like Sewell, Tyler strives to keep learning fun.

“When they get a hands-on approach, they’re more involved,” Tyler said.

Tyler, a Natchez native, left the state for Texas but returned hoping to make a positive impact in the local education system.

“I wanted to try to make a difference here,” she said.

And making a difference is what Central Alternative School teacher of the Year William Doss had in mind when decided to teach.

“This is an opportunity to make a change,” Doss said.

Doss has worked in the district for six years and teaches history and social studies.

Doss said he was especially proud to be recognized by his peers for his accomplishments.

“To know they notice the work you do means a lot,” he said.

And while the district has only one more week of classes before summer vacation, some teachers wouldn’t dream of time off.

Natchez High School teacher of the year Cheryl Conway will spend the summer working on her doctorate in education leadership.

“It’s going to help me to become a better teacher and help them be better students,” she said.

For Conway, consistent improvement is her main objective in teaching.

“We want them to get better and better each year,” Conway said. “That’s our job.”

At Fallin Career and Technology Center carpentry instructor, and Fallin’s teacher of the year, Anthony Tuccio has a slightly different goal.

For 15 years Tuccio has been making the district’s students better builders.

“This, for me, is rewarding,” he said. “They can leave here and with not much more than a hammer and a truck start their own businesses,” Tuccio said. “That’s something great to see.”

Across town at West Primary School teacher of the year Diane Verucchi was working with the youngest minds in the district.

Verucchi has been teaching kindergarten for five years, and said she was honored to be chosen as teacher of the year.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” she said. “And it’s an amazing job. I love each one of them like they were my own.”

For some teachers in the district, the work they do is that for which they’ve been called.

“I think this is what God wants me to do,” Shamekai Isaac, Morgantown Elementary’s teacher of the year said.

Isaac is a fifth-grade math teacher in the school and has worked in the district for three years.

“This is my chance to make a change in the world one student at a time,” Isaac said. “This is a great job.”

At Frazier Primary School teacher of the year Katrenia McNeal said she loves her job and the fresh minds she gets to fill with knowledge every day.

McNeal has taught in the district for the past 10 years.

“At this age, they want to learn and they have a genuine interest in almost everything,” she said. “They’re all beautiful.”