INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) —  WISH-TV celebrates extraordinary teachers in central Indiana with the WISH-TV Golden Apple Award.

The award comes with a trophy, $500 in cash thanks to our partners at Hensley Legal Group, PC, a school supply shopping spree to Teachers’ Treasures, and a surprise visit from the News 8 team.

• Nominate a deserving teacher for the Golden Apple Award!

October’s Golden Apple Award winner is Ms. Angie Gibbs. She teaches Spanish and English at Irvington Preparatory Academy. It’s how she encourages kids to see the world; that really makes her a transformational teacher.

Spooky season is here, especially in an historic part of Indianapolis. At Irvington Preparatory Academy, Halloween is hallowed in the halls and for the Ravens, the Day of the Dead is a festive favorite — especially for Ms. Gibbs.

“She loves the Day of the Dead. She has sugar skulls everywhere. It’s her favorite time of year. She talks about it a lot. If I could probably describe Gibbs in one way, it would be a sugar skull,” 15-year-old Unique Knight said.

Gibbs stands out just like the sugar skulls in her classroom. She has been teaching for 27 years, and many of her students describe her as a parental figure at school.

“She’s like a parental figure, almost. I really admire the amount of work and how much she actually cares for the students here,” Junior Makai Cannon said.

“It is almost like a parental kind of vibe, if that makes sense? Like – she is not my parent, but she cares as much as if she were a parent,” 17-year-old Keisha Dodson added.

“No matter what she does, teaching is in her mind,” Junior Evan Phipps explained. “She does the color guard, the travel club, two classes – two subjects, and yeah, everything she does goes into school.”

She teaches several levels of Spanish and English. Students say her years of experience and travel bring her subjects to life.

“She’s one of my favorite teachers because she doesn’t just teach class. She doesn’t give us test after test. She gives us projects,” Dodson said.

Ms. Gibbs uses projects to help students understand cultural significance and various lessons. Around the Day of the Dead, students have to research and do an interactive educational piece. Recently, a project involved cooking:

“Research and create a food and record it and bring it to class and have everyone try it,” Phipps described.

She stands out for making difficult subjects more approachable. Students say it is her work outside of class that’s most impressive.

She runs the Roving Ravens Travel Club, taking students all over the world. First, though, students earn the trips while learning hard work pays off.

“There’s one or two trips a year that she does, and it’s out of the country, and you work at Lucas Oil Stadium to fundraise money for it,” Dodson explained.

“So we work at Lucas Oil as a concession, and then you make like maybe $100 a day every time you work. And you have to just keep working until you get to the goal of how much that trip costs,” Phipps said.

“We host a taco stand, and she’s really kind to us. She gives me rides from my house to work. So, if I need a ride, she’ll come pick me up, take me to work,” Dodson added.

Students can tell she’s a mom. She also brings that mentality to the band. She’s the coach for Color Guard and often drives kids to and from parades and practice. The group is often front and center at the Irvington Halloween Festival, thanks to Ms. Gibbs.

“She’s dedicated not only to her work, but to us too. She makes me feel like I’m a person outside of school,” Unique Knight explained.

That’s why eight students nominated her for the WISH-TV Golden Apple Award.

So, along with her daughter and Hensley Legal Group, PC, the WISH-TV team went to surprise her.  Mitch Waldroup, attorney and director of business development at Hensley Legal Group, PC presented Ms. Gibbs with the $500 check.

“I am still a little overwhelmed,” Gibbs said. “It is nice to hear that they can see that I love what I do and that is really important to me.”

“I feel that every student regardless of their situation, whatever their background is or experience is, that they all deserve to have the same experiences. To be able to travel to be able to do color guard, to be able to do whatever they want, regardless of what situation they are coming from.”

When asked how she feels seeing students have these experiences, Gibbs said, “You can see that it is life-changing for some of them when you are on the trips or even seeing them work and what they can learn.”

“Every student deserves the same opportunities. A great education, a global education, regardless, they all deserve it,” Gibbs added.

Because creating opportunity — lifting students to explore — that’s a journey worth celebrating.

Ms. Gibbs says she always wanted to be a teacher. She has been helping kids in the Travel Club work at Lucas Oil Stadium and earn trips since 2013. The next few trips are Australia, Rwanda, Japan, and Iceland.

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