CARLISLE, Iowa – A Carlisle graduate is now a teacher at the high school she went to and the connections she’s making with her students are making a big difference.

Equations on a whiteboard can be challenging to get right. Thankfully, students in Brooke Groves’ class know they’re not solving problems alone.

“Mrs. Groves is really kind. She cares about everyone she teaches,” freshman Rilee Ogden said. “She’s always there if you need someone and she never lets you give up and fail. She always pushes you.”

Fellow freshman Adrian Zamora Garcia agrees. “She’s always been a nice teacher to me, always helps me with all my work, and never lets me stop trying.”

Mrs. Groves is the special education teacher at Carlisle High School and says students’ success in the classroom starts with getting to know them.

“They come in every day, and they want me to be a part of their life,” Groves said. “They’ll tell me all their drama. They’ll tell me their personal lives, and that’s nice because then when you ask them to do hard things they’re like ‘oh yeah, she’s got me, she’s not going to let me fail. She’s going to do everything she can to help me get through it.”

It’s Groves’ first year teaching at Carlisle, but not her first as a Wildcat. She graduated from Carlisle back in 2018 and returned this school year after working at a different district.

“I always knew I loved teaching,” Groves reflects. “The last two years were kind of like, is this really what I want to do? Questioning myself, are there other opportunities for me out there? Do I want to go back to school? But coming back to Carlisle, and even though we’ve only been in school for two and a half months, I was like ‘I love teaching. This is what I want do.’”

Andrea Hoekstra is the principal at Carlisle High School. She knew Groves as a student and now a teacher.

“She’s just been amazing,” Hoekstra said. “She has stepped right in since day one and really found her groove and has built such great relationships with her students and fit really well with our staff and just has that all in and buy-in and we’re just so happy she’s here with us.”

Mrs. Groves’ focus on relationships was rewarded when several of her students nominated her for the Golden Apple.

“I want to say thank you to all my kids,” Groves said when she received the award. “You guys – I’m gonna start crying – are my true reason why I love teaching and why I get up every day to do what I do. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without any of you. You push me to be a better person, and I hope I push you to understand your true potential in life and that even though you may have a disability, that doesn’t define you. You can do great things.”

Her students know how deserving she is of the recognition.

“It made me tear up a little bit, because I knew it was going to happen,” freshman Eli Anthony said, “because not a lot of teachers get it, but she was the special one this year.”

A special teacher giving back to the community that’s special to her.

“Carlisle is home,” Groves said. “Carlisle will always be home even if you try to run away.”

Mrs. Groves also teaches with her mom and sister at Carlisle.

Watch her full interview below: