
Who Inspired You to Become an Educator?
Share your story with us for a chance to win $2,000.
Inspired2Educate is a national recognition program that encourages current and aspiring K-20 educators to honor the teachers or administrators who inspired them to embrace education as their life’s work.
Tell us your story in a video or in writing! Each quarter, PeopleAdmin will award one person with $1,000 for professional development and $1,000 for their educational institution.

Who Inspired You to Become an Educator?
Share your story with us for a
chance to win $2,000.
Inspired2Educate is a national recognition program that encourages current K-20 educators to honor the teachers or administrators who inspired them to embrace education as their life’s work.
Tell us your story in a video or in writing! Each quarter, PeopleAdmin will award one person with $1,000 for professional development and $1,000 for their educational institution.
Share Your Story with Us!
We are so glad that you decided to share your story with us. Visit our full site to submit your story. There you will find program rules, FAQs and recent winners.
2018 WINNERS

1st Quarter Winner
Kimberly O. McManus, Ed.D.
2018 1st Quarter Winner
Kimberly O. McManus, Ed.D.
Director of Disability Services
Trinity Washington University
My story is a bit different. It is not a story of butterflies and dandelions that roam over a meadow. Instead, the teacher who inspired me was my kindergarten teacher. The year was 1977. Coming from a small town in South Carolina, I was nervous about going to school, but I knew that my mom and dad had given me a good foundation.
I was a quick learner and did very well on tests that I was given, so much so that the school wanted to skip me two grades. However, my kindergarten teacher did not like me because of the color of my skin. She didn’t mind talking about us, African American children; she acted as if our age made us not understand that she treated us differently than the white children in the room. Because I was smart, she disliked me even more. She went out of her way to make me cry and have miserable days. However, I was thankful for Ms. Joanne, who was the teacher’s assistant. Ms. Joanne, who was also white, was always helpful and nice even when Ms. Casey’s obvious position was to promote low self-esteem in the children who did not have blue eyes and blonde hair.
I remember going home asking my mom what was the difference between one of my white friends and me. My mom told me that it was only our outward appearance because when we are cut, we all bleed the same color. With my mom telling me this, I just could not understand why Ms. Casey then thought it was her duty to mistreat children, nearly babies, who were coming to her for information. It was then, at five years old, that I decided that I would teach. I promised myself that I would treat all of my students the same. I wouldn’t treat my students differently because they had a different color of skin or hair texture than mine.
I started practicing. I would bring home extra copies of worksheets and sit my toys around my bedroom, pretending they were students in my class. I had a chalk board that I used to further my teaching instruction. I was going to be a teacher.
As the years passed by, I went to college and majored in Special Education. I ended up teaching students with various disabilities.
Since finishing undergrad, I have taught on the K-12 level and the 2-year and 4-year college levels. I currently teach at a local two-year college in Maryland. Each time I step in the classroom, I am sure to make everyone feel comfortable because I want all of my students — regardless of their race, their native language, their religion, their background, their sexuality — to feel that they are welcomed in my class to learn. I want them to all know that I care about them because we are all in this race together.
I thank Ms. Casey for showing me what not to do because I could have allowed her to sour my view of education, but I did not. Instead, it challenged me. I graduated valedictorian of my high school class and nearly five degrees later, I am still here … still loving education, and still passing my desire to teach and learn to new classes of students, either in my capacity as a professor or as an administrator.
Someone told me once that if life serves you lemons, make lemonade. So, I take my lemonade stand with me every day!

2nd Quarter Winner

3rd Quarter Winner

4th Quarter Winner
2017 WINNERS

1st Quarter Winner
Michelle Hofmann
2017 1st Quarter Winner
Michelle Hofmann, Lecturer
California State University, Northridge
North Hills, California
A simple penned statement that sits in a frame on the wall in my home office underscores the value of setting and moving toward goals. It reads: “The jump is so frightening between where I am and where I want to be . . . but because of all I may become, I will close my eyes and leap.”
I fell in love with the words in early 2003 during a visit to Oxnard, Calif., with my mother. At the time, there was a lot to fear. I was 38, about to give birth to my second daughter, and walking my mother through the last year of her life. Knowing someone is dying gives you a chance to say good bye. But it doesn’t make the fear of that loss any easier to bear or the time leading up to that final breath any less chaotic.
With no time to spare, my mother and I set a host of goals in 2003. We had some great adventures during our lifetime as mother and daughter, and that final year was no exception. I couldn’t stop the inevitable outcome. Still, accomplishing the goals we set in that final year provided a treasure trove of photos and memories that eased the heartbreak death left behind when he swept through the hospital room and took my mother away forever Oct. 11, 2003. I was broken indeed. But as the holiday season yielded the rustle of wrapping and the sound of my children’s laughter, I had few regrets about the previous 12 months.
Before my mother died, we talked about my goals for the future and wrote them down on the page of a notepad that sat near the phone, next to her hospital bed. Graduate school was on the list. Time passed. Six years came and went. I wrote newspaper stories about real estate. I drove my kids to school. I made dinner for my husband. I traveled to South Africa, London, and Europe. I had another child, a son, in May 2008. Then in June 2009, I found that list of goals tucked in the folds of an old journal. As I read down the list, I struck a line through the entry that read, “Call CSUN about graduate school,” and picked up the phone. The following month, I completed the application for graduate school.
The story illustrates why I so strongly believe in the power of setting goals.
Graduate school was part of a bigger plan to realize a personal dream toward a professional goal and branch out from mainstream journalism and chart a new course, teaching. My thesis was conferred on Aug. 26, 2011. Three days later, I walked into a classroom.
To be honest, I never fancied myself a teacher. I am a journalist through and through. But I never stopped feeling indebted to my first journalism professor, Rob O’Neil. I was a deli waitress with a dream to be something more when I met Professor O’Neil in spring 1994. The semester had started when the L.A. Pierce Community College counselor suggested I enroll in journalism 101–the equivalent to Journalism 102, which I was teaching prior to teaching speech communications at California State University, Northridge.
At 29, I honestly thought myself too old to start college. During my first class, I sat next to Ruby Nichols, 76. Clearly, a larger plan was at work, so I just kept showing up. So did Ruby. In fact, she and I exchanged Christmas cards every year until she died a few years back.
By 1999, I had secured my associate and bachelor degrees and was working for a parenting magazine. I started writing about real estate in 2000. Each time I saw Professor O’Neil after leaving Pierce in 1996, he would say the same thing: “When are you going to go back to school and get your graduate degree and teach a journalism course.” I would always return with: “Rob, you know that I’m not a teacher. I’m a journalist.”
Still, the prodding got my attention. And in coming out of the dark time after my mother’s death, I thought I’d trust the professor who changed my life and give teaching a go. I’m glad I did. In many ways, teaching feels like coming home. Professor O’Neil was right; I am a teacher. I love everything about teaching at CSUN. But most all, I love the students, watching them grow, seeing them move from fear to hope to joy to the realization that they can be and are so much more than they ever thought possible. In many ways, their stories are my story. I see myself in them. And I am moved to do my best to pay back a gift freely given to me by a remarkable man, a humble teacher.
It’s hard to know how to thank the people who change your life. But every day and in every way, professors at campuses across the nation and around the world change lives. Still, many don’t get accolades from former students. So to you, I say, “Thank you, professor.” What you do makes a difference today and tomorrow. Thank you, professor. What you give forever changes how they feel, how they remember, and why they give back. Thank you, professor. You may not always feel it, but you are a hero. Thank you, professor.

2nd Quarter Winner
Jami Witherell
2017 2nd Quarter Winner
Jami Witherell
3rd/4th Grade Looping Classroom
Newton School/Greenfield Public Schools
Greenfield, MA
I was terrified. Absolutely and utterly terrified. I was switching schools for the third time in 5 years. A new school, new teachers, no friends, and to top it all off, the children joining me in my new 5th grade homeroom were all best friends from the other side of town. I was sure the name that had arrived on the paper the week before school started was some old, white-haired lady that would never match my 4th grade teacher, Mr. Moriarty. I was terrified.
Which made entering Mrs. Willard’s room one of the greatest surprises of my young life. She was young, in her first few years of teaching, and had a smile that has remained unchanged after all these years. She was my miracle. She believed in me for the entire school year when I was completely unable and ill-equipped to do so myself. I was profoundly shaped and impacted by her nurture, her kindness, and her ability to really see me.
5th grade was the year my parents divorced, my aunt had cancer, my mother moved away, and I (the Chilean adoptee) took on the belief that all of this and more must be my fault. When I was most broken, felt most alone, Mrs. Willard took the TIME to love me, and often, I felt, pick up my broken pieces to show me that in fact, I was not too broken to be loved.
Today, some 23 years later, I teach 3rd and loop to 4th grade, in a district of high need. I find myself wondering how Mrs. Willard did it with 30 of us, but she found a way to make each of us feel special, smart, and loved; something I strive to do with each of my little magicians.
For many years AFTER 5th grade, I wrote to Mrs. Willard, how she inspired me. She attended my sweet 16 and my first production as an actress. Always available to give her time, even as her own family grew.
When my 3rd graders ask me why I wanted to be a teacher, tears often well. “Mrs. Willard,” I say, “Took the time to make me feel special – and I thought a job making people feel special, smart, and loved, had to be the greatest job in the world.”

3rd Quarter Winner
Tracy Erickson
2017 3rd Quarter Winner
Tracy Erickson
6th grade math teacher
River Ridge Middle School
New Port Richey, Florida
Broke and broken. That’s how I felt the day I knocked on Doug Brumbaugh’s door. I knew he would answer….he always did. Dr. Brumbaugh was a professor at UCF where I was pursuing a computer science degree, and he was also my advisor. I’m sure I was not the first, nor will I be the last, downtrodden college student to ever enter his office. He listened intently as I explained, with tears streaming down my face, that my time as an undergraduate was over. I was quitting school.
I grew up in a small town in Kansas. A REALLY small town — population 500, give or take a few babies now and then. I worked at my parents’ newspaper office, excelled in school and graduated Salutatorian of my class, number 2 of 21. I got an academic scholarship to Kansas State University, and was voted Most Likely to Succeed by my peers. My senior year, I was the teacher’s assistant for the guidance counselor, and she had THE ONLY computer in town, a Radio Shack TRS-80 that she used to set out in the hallway during basketball games, because nobody in White City had ever seen one before. In my spare time, I read in the direction booklet how to write a simple program that the kindergartners used to add single digit numbers. IF they got one right, THEN the computer showed a smiley face and applause rang out. IF they got one wrong, THEN a sad face appeared and the computer buzzed its disapproval. Mrs. McKellar thought I was a genius and encouraged me to go to college and major in computer science because, “that’s where the money was.”
After graduation, I declined my scholarship to K-State and moved to Florida to live with my older sister and attend UCF, because Mrs. McKellar said they had a great Computer Science program. I didn’t realize you had to apply ahead of time. I just walked up to the registrar and announced, “I’m Tracy Mahon from Kansas, and I’d like to go to this school and major in Computer Science.” They said I had to take a math placement test and asked if I had taken Calculus in high school. I presented my transcript, and explained that our school didn’t offer it. I took the test, and, of course, didn’t score high enough to get in to the Computer Science Department at UCF. They suggested that I enroll in community college, and come back in 2 years with my AA degree, and they would have to take me, no matter how unprepared I was……
I worked hard at Valencia, made straight A’s, and two years later returned to UCF, determined to get that degree in Computer Science and make good money, just like Mrs. McKellar said I would. I was so excited for my first real programming class! On the first day, the Graduate Instructor greeted us with this: “You do realize that if you major in Computer Science, it will be you and a machine in a cubicle in the basement of some office building for the rest of your life…..” I seriously began to question my decision.
I enrolled in Calculus 1, taught by Dr. Brumbaugh, along with several other equally challenging courses, including Physics, which I had never even heard of. On my first Physics test, I got a 12. I was devastated. I dropped the class, and concentrated on Calculus 1, which I barely passed, even with a tutor that I couldn’t afford. The next semester, I tried Physics again. On the first test, I got a 25. That was the day I went to see Dr. Brumbaugh.
“I can’t do it. I’ll never pass Physics.” I wiped my tears and continued, “My parents don’t have enough money to support me for much longer, and to be honest, I don’t even think I would like a job with computers anyway.”
Dr. Brumbaugh pulled up my transcript and smiled. “You have so many math credits! Have you ever considered being a math teacher?” I thought of my current Calculus grade and laughed. “Um…..no.” He said that he had seen “teacher qualities” in me in his classes, and he promised that a degree in Secondary Math Education would guarantee me a job. He also said he would help me pass Calculus, and he did. He found me a free tutor (I think he paid her himself), and I passed on my second try. I did my internship in a 7th grade classroom and fell in love with everything about my job.
I attended a career fair that semester and got the first position I interviewed for. I have been teaching middle school math ever since. I am right where I should have been all along. I’m just so thankful that Dr. Brumbaugh saw the qualities in me that I couldn’t see in myself, and so thankful for his help and his encouragement. I often see my students struggling in math, and I think back to my own struggle and how Dr. Brumbaugh’s belief in me kept me from giving up. I hope that I can be the teacher that always believes in her students and always looks for the qualities in them that they, themselves, cannot recognize. Thank you, Dr. Brumbaugh for making a difference in my life, so I can make a difference in theirs.

4th Quarter Winner
Jenny Ketrow
2017 4th Quarter Winner
Jenny Ketrow
Teacher of Integrated Arts
Unity Charter School
Morristown, New Jersey
I first met Ms. Williams when I was in fourth grade. She was helping our class try out different band instruments. I had my heart set on the trumpet, but soon found out that I didn’t have the right lip or power to make a sound. I was heartbroken. My dreams of playing the trumpet part to the Johnny Cash song, “Ring of Fire” were dashed on the band room floor. What else was there for me to even consider playing?
Ms. Williams lead me over to the back of the room and put a neck strap over my head. Before I could mourn my trumpet fail any longer, she attached a shiny, golden saxophone to my neck strap and said, “Try this one on for size.”
Reluctantly, still hurting over the trumpet incident, I placed my lips on the mouthpiece of this new instrument. In my head, there’d be no way I’d ever play the stupid saxophone. No way. Well, I was wrong! Not only was I making a sound on the instrument, I was able to play “Mary Had A Little Lamb.” Ms. Williams smiled at my discovery and exclaimed, “You’re a natural with this one. You’re definitely a sax player! See, you’ll get to be in the band after all.”
Thanks to the patience, guidance, and understanding of Ms. Williams, I went on to play in the school band from 5th grade until 12th grade and even switched to playing the bassoon and doubling on electric guitar for the jazz ensemble. Without Ms. Williams and her kind nature, I don’t think I would have continued with the music program, or felt encouraged enough to attend Berklee College of Music and become the music and art teacher that I am today. I remember her kindness to me on that fateful day and I draw upon that experience in my own classroom when faced with frustrated students who need that extra push of love and encouragement to succeed.
Ms. Williams and I are good friends to this day, and just this summer we got to jam together on stage at the Black Potatoe Music Festival in front of thousands of fans. She’s a professional musician outside of the classroom and she sings and plays keyboards in a Fleetwood Mac Tribute band called, Tusk. Still inspired by her, I write music and front my own rock band, Jenny And The Felines.
I know that I can call her whenever I have a question about my classroom and she knows that she can count on me to provide guitar to any of her projects, or just to come in to visit her students to tell them about careers in music.
If you’re considering on becoming an educator, you will have days that will make you weep as hard as I did on the day I found out I couldn’t play the trumpet, but you will also have days that will make you feel more alive and uplifted than in any other profession. The up’s and down’s of the teaching profession are worth every moment. I am so thankful to Kim Williams for showing me that teachers do care and can change lives with just kindness.

How to Enter
Anyone who is currently an educator or pursuing an education degree can participate in this program by submitting a written or video-recorded story through this website. Each quarter $1,000 will be awarded to the winner for personal development and $1,000 will be awarded to their school or educational institution.
To enter, use the submission form to the right to submit a written or video story.
Not sure where to start? Here are a few questions to get you thinking:
- Who is your all-time favorite educator?
- In what way have you been inspired by this person? Was there a specific interaction you had that was especially meaningful to you?
- What impact did this educator have on your life, your career or general success?
- What inspiring words do you have for others who might be considering a career in education?
Inspired2Educate Program Fact Sheet
Who is PeopleAdmin?
Our mission at PeopleAdmin is to build better organizations for a better future. We do that by helping our customers attract and hire the right people for the right jobs. As the leading provider of cloud-based talent management solutions for education, we help school districts, colleges and universities streamline the hiring process, onboard new employees, efficiently manage positions and employee performance, develop compliant and defensible audit trails, and use industry-leading reporting and metrics.
PeopleAdmin now serves 46 percent of all educators and administrators across the entire education spectrum, who in turn serve more than 30 million students — more than 50 percent of all American and Canadian students. We have more than 250 employees. Our headquarters is in Austin, Texas, with additional offices in Shawnee, Kansas, and Chicago, Illinois.
What is the Inspired2Educate program?
Inspired2Educate is a national recognition program that encourages current and aspiring K-20 educators to honor a teacher or administrator who inspired them to embrace education as their life’s work by sharing their stories with us. We also hope to inspire future educators, especially at a time when many states are experiencing teacher and administrator shortages. To show our appreciation, PeopleAdmin will provide financial rewards to participants and their educational institutions.
Why is PeopleAdmin sponsoring this program?
PeopleAdmin may be a technology company, but at the end of the day, what we do is about people. We care about education and are proud of our role in helping schools and educational institutions across the country recruit, hire and train the very best people to inspire the minds of tomorrow. Inspired2Educate celebrates educators and the enormous impact they have on our communities and the lives of others for generations to come.
How can people participate in this program?
Anyone over 18 years old who is (a) currently employed by a U.S. or Canadian educational institution or (b) currently pursuing a degree in education at an institution of higher education in the U.S. or Canada can participate in this program by submitting a short story or video about an educator who inspired him or her to make it their life’s work. Written stories and videos can be submitted on the website, PeopleAdmin.com/inspired2educate, and shared on social media using the hashtag “#Inspired2Educate.”
How will participants be thanked for contributing their stories?
Each quarter for the duration of the campaign, PeopleAdmin will award $2,000 to recognize one educator and support his or her educational institution. This is our way of showing gratitude for educators. A scholarship of $1,000 will be awarded for personal development to the winning educator, and $1,000 will be awarded to their school or institution. We will also highlight our favorite stories on our website and on social media.
How will submissions be judged?
A judging panel comprised of PeopleAdmin staff will select one winner each quarter — four winners per year — based on a number of criteria, including inspirational impact, creativity and overall submission quality. As this is a yearlong campaign, story submissions from previous quarters may be awarded later in the year. Throughout the campaign we may also ask celebrity judges to pick the winning submission.
Inspired2Educate Program Rules
Your participation in the PeopleAdmin, Inc. Giveaway (“The Giveaway ” or “Promotion”) shall be deemed to be your complete acceptance of the Terms and Conditions herein. The following are the Terms and Conditions of The Giveaway, which is sponsored by PeopleAdmin, Inc. (“PeopleAdmin”).
- Only persons over the age of 18 and residing in the United States or Canada are eligible for entry to The Giveaway. Winner(s) may be asked, at any stage, to provide PeopleAdmin, Inc. or a third party with proof of age and /or identity.
- One (1) Winner shall be selected at the end of each quarter and entries must be submitted no later than the last day of March, June, September and December 2018 to be considered.
- Each entrant shall be entitled to make one (1) entry per quarter into The Giveaway only. In the event that PeopleAdmin deems an entrant to have made multiple applications to enter or to have acted in bad faith with respect to the Promotion, the entrant shall be excluded from The Giveaway and consequently ineligible to win the Promotional Prize, as defined below.
- All entries become the property of PeopleAdmin and in no event will such submissions be returned to the entrant. As a condition of entering into The Giveaway, each entrant agrees to assign all of the rights, title and interest in and to their entry to PeopleAdmin.
- By submitting an entry into The Giveaway, each entrant understands and agrees that PeopleAdmin may use their personal information to contact entrant regarding its goods and services, including but not limited to providing special offers and marketing materials.
- The Promotional Prize for winning The Giveaway shall be $1,000 to be awarded to the Winner(s) and an additional $1,000 (the “Prize”) to be awarded to the Winner’s educational institution.
- PeopleAdmin shall notify the winner of the winning via E-mail/telephone within thirty (30) days of The Giveaway. The winner shall receive the Promotional Prize within sixty (60) days of PeopleAdmin’s receipt of the details of the winner required in order to affect transfer of the Prize.
- Notwithstanding Section 7 above, in the event that, for any reason whatsoever, the Promotional Prize winner fails to respond, within thirty (30) days, to the E-mail notification of his/her winning, such winning entrant shall be deemed to have forfeited his / her claim to the prize and PeopleAdmin shall not have any obligation whatsoever to compensate the winning entrant in any way.
- PeopleAdmin’s decision is final with respect to all matters relating to awarding of the Promotional Prize and shall not be subject to review or appeal by any entrant or by any third party.
- PeopleAdmin is not responsible for costs associated with creating any submission.
- The Prize is neither transferable nor exchangeable.
- By entering the Giveaway each entrant unreservedly agrees to these terms and conditions which govern the Giveaway and the awarding of the Prize.
- By entering the Giveaway each entrant agrees to release, discharge and hold harmless PeopleAdmin, its legal representatives, affiliates, subsidiaries, agencies and their respective officers, directors, employees and agents from any damages whatsoever suffered or sustained in connection The Giveaway or the acceptance of the Prize.
- The winning entrant shall be solely responsible for any taxes levied in relation to the delivery or receipt of the Promotional Prize.
- PeopleAdmin reserves the right to alter these Terms and Conditions at any time and in its sole discretion.
- PeopleAdmin reserves the right, at any time, to cancel, modify or suspend The Giveaway if, in its sole judgment, The Giveaway is not capable of being conducted as specified.
- PeopleAdmin reserves the right to disclose winner’s name and identity.
- These terms and conditions and any matters relating hereto shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with the laws of Texas without regard to its conflict of laws principles and shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Travis County, Texas.
Share Your Story with Us!
We are so glad that you decided to share your story with us. Please fill out the form below to submit your official written or video-recorded story.
NEWS & PRESS
PeopleAdmin celebrates Massachusetts elementary educator as part of Inspired2Educate recognition program
PeopleAdmin announced the latest honoree of its Inspired2Educate recognition program. Jami Witherell, a third- and fourth-grade looping teacher at Newton School in Greenfield, Mass., shared the story of how her fifth-grade teacher made her feel special, smart and loved when she needed it most.
2017 Inspired2Educate Winner: Michelle Hoffman
A simple penned statement that sits in a frame on the wall in my home office underscores the value of setting and moving toward goals. It reads: “The jump is so frightening between where I am and where I want to be . . . but because of all I may become, I will close my eyes and leap.”
PeopleAdmin celebrates university lecturer and K-12 substitute as Inspired2Educate recipients during annual customer conference
PeopleAdmin announced the latest honorees of its Inspired2Educate recognition program, honoring their stories of how exceptional educators inspired them to pursue a career in education — a field both Michelle Hofmann and Adam DeSimone found a passion for as second careers thanks to influential educators.
PeopleAdmin celebrates Texas educator as part of Inspired2Educate program
Damon Adams, an assistant principal at Hays High School in Buda, Texas, told the story of how he carries on the legacy of his band teacher, Carolyn Herrington, who opened up her classroom so he could escape an abusive home and a non-friendly school environment, and encouraged him to believe in himself.
PeopleAdmin celebrates Virginia language instructor as part of Inspired2Educate recognition program
PeopleAdmin has announced the latest honoree of its Inspired2Educate recognition program for her story about her college professor and his “never give up” spirit that continues to inspire her today.
PeopleAdmin honors Virginia educator as part of Inspired2Educate recognition program
Shonda Buchanan, an assistant English professor at Hampton University, is the latest recipient of PeopleAdmin’s Inspired2Educate award, which encourages current education professionals to nominate a teacher, administrator, or staff member who inspired them to start their careers in education.