Yes, it has been a very rough year, but, it's Christmas time and this is the season of giving.  Pandemic or not, giving to others and spreading good cheer - and/or money - should not take a break.

For the past several years, KICKS 105 has teamed up with Whataburger to award $1,000 classroom grants to seven area teachers.  Today, we surprised winner number eight.

The promotion is called the KICKS 105/Whataburger Teacher of the Day.  East Texans are encouraged to nominate teachers for the opportunity to win the $1,000 prize which is chosen from the nominations at the end of every semester.

This semester's winner is Cessali Williams at Lufkin High School.  Here is what the nominator had to say about her:

"Mrs. Williams is one of the nicest teachers you will ever meet. Before class starts she’s always waiting at the door to greet everyone and she always has a smile on her face. You can always count on Mrs. Williams for anything and everything she will be your #1 support when you need it the most. I feel like she deserves the 1,000 dollars so she can expand her kitchen. Mrs. William teaches every culinary class there is at the high school and she is the only teacher who teaches culinary she always ask for a bigger kitchen so her students can experience the joy of cooking . She currently only has 4 student kitchens and 1 teacher kitchen making it kind of hard for all of her students to cook at once since she has to divide them in groups of 5 or 8 in order for everyone to use the kitchen. She not only teaches us cooking but she also teaches us to wash our own dishes by hand even th ough we have a washing machine and she also teaches us to wash our culinary jackets and how to take tough stains out. Mrs. Williams is one amazing teacher and I feel like she deserves to have a bigger kitchen for her class."

Take a look at the video above to see the moment that we surprised Mrs. Williams with the great news.

By the way, we'll be awarding another teacher with a $1,000 classroom grant at the end of the Spring Semester.  Any teachers nominated during the Fall will automatically be entered to win that prize as well.  Feel free to nominate teachers at our KICKS 105 App.

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Teacher of the Day winners

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