She is motivating her students to "sew" making a difference locally and internationally.
That's what you'll find at Plaza Middle School, students hard at work in Rebecca Stewart's teen living class.
Students like Amaya Brown-Sinclair are excited to be making dresses to be sent to girls in Africa. "It's really fun. It's like a new learning experience and I like learning new things."
Fellow student Nico Cruz took the assignment very seriously, "I was thinking I've got to make this look good for, like a little girl and it's going to be cool that a little girl is going to appreciate what I make for them."
In addition to the dresses, last year her sixth grade class made stuffed teddy bears. Thirty-five of them went to Children's Hospitals of the Kings Daughters and another 35 went to Operation Smile to be sent overseas to Ghana.
The students are also encouraged take part in other community service projects.
I paid a visit to the teacher behind all of this, thanks to an email from a fellow teacher, Brigid Banasiewicz who nominated Rebecca Stewart, "She is the teen living teacher at Plaza Middle School in Virginia Beach. Over the past few years she has motivated and encouraged her students to make an impact in our community."
Because of that we presented Stewart with a People Taking Action Award and a $300 Visa gift card from our community partner Southern Bank, "Ohhhh thank you! Oh my goodness, I'm so glad that everybody has a chance to see all the hard work that the students did. These dresses are really amazing and they worked really hard on them and they're going to go to little girls in need."
