ST. LOUIS, Mo. – A teacher from the St. Louis Public Schools district has won $500 for the commitment she shows to her students.

Ms. Nina Harris, a former veteran and current 5th-grade teacher at Lexington Elementary School, has won KPLR 11’s Tools For Teachers award of $500 from Weber Chevrolet for the level of care she offers students both inside and outside the classroom. Harris’s friend, Brenda Mahr, said she deserved the award for a number of different reasons: working late into the evening, tutoring on weekends, collecting donations for her classroom and empowering parents to play an active role in their child’s education were just a few.

“Her kids come first!” Mahr wrote in her Tools For Teachers nomination.