Building relationships with students is the core tenet of Erin Walker’s teaching philosophy. An English teacher at Ben Davis Ninth Grade Center for over a decade, Erin attributes her success to making meaningful connections with all of her students, no matter their differences. She believes that awareness of students’ educational and emotional needs is a critical part of ensuring student learning. Group work and technology instruction feature prominently in Erin’s classroom, as she believes these skills cultivate educational stamina and original thought. Erin is also widely involved in school life outside of the classroom, serving as yearbook advisor, after-school tutor, and on committees focused on cultural competency and positive behavior incentives. But most important is her commitment to cultivating relationships and modeling persistence in life; as one student wrote to her, “You taught me how to take adversity and make it beautiful.”