- There's 20 to 30 different kids every year and not one kid that I've ever taught has been the same as another kid.

And that just is so fun to me.

(light music) My name is Kimi Bayles.

I'm a teacher at Gearld Wright Elementary School.

And I teach first grade.

- I always say, "When I grow up, I wanna be Kimi."

Because I wanna be a teacher like her, somebody who puts their whole heart into it, somebody who puts all their energy into it, and somebody who is just passionate about being a teacher.

(light music continues) You won't ever find Kimi sitting behind a desk.

She's always right in the middle of the kids.

They're always engaged in whatever she has them doing.

- I'm really good at seeing kids how they are.

Wherever they're at, whether they're learning alphabet letters, starting to read, or reading on a fourth grade level, it's perfect, they are right where they need to be.

- She knows where every kid is every minute, academically, emotionally, socially.

I don't know anybody who puts in as much time and effort for the individual child as Kimi does.

- What is also important to me is to make sure that I have a classroom community where we embrace everybody's differences.

- As a second grade teacher, I really can tell which kids have been in her room because they have that maturity, they have that kindness toward other kids.

- They know that they don't have to be fearful of being different.

In fact, they embrace it and they get excited about being different.

(light music continues) So when I'm teaching a lesson, instead of calling on the students who know the right answer, I will actually ask the kids to raise their hand for whoever made a mistake.

- They're not afraid of her.

They're not afraid to ask her questions.

- They get really excited to share where they make mistakes.

I actually feel like a lot of their growth has come from their ability to make mistakes and keep going from it, so it's pretty fun.

(light music continues) One of the things that I have done almost every year is caterpillars and butterflies.

So, we give each student a caterpillar that they get to have in a cup that's on their desk, and they get to journal about it.

- And then when they hatch, the kids get to take 'em outside and just, they hold 'em in their hands and get to let 'em fly away.

- One of the best parts about that is I love to teach that caterpillars change into butterflies and change is such a good thing.

Change that we go through sometimes might be hard, but it's something that gets us to something more beautiful.

- And she takes the cutest pictures with them with butterflies in their hands.

Then, when they graduate from sixth grade on into middle school, she gives 'em that picture with a little note about how they are the caterpillar and they're now the butterfly.

(light music continues) And so, five years later, they still are getting notes from her about how amazing they are.

- And that's one of my goals.

I want every kid in my class walking out of my room thinking, "I'm Mrs. Bayles' favorite," and they all are my favorite.

- There's this magic, and how do you describe it?

How do you describe it on film?

I don't know, but there is just something about her.

I think she was just born to teach.

I really do.

It's just in her bones.

- I really do love the job that I do, and I put in a lot of work and a lot of energy, not because I wanna be a good teacher, but because I want my students to feel like they meant something to somebody.

(light music continues)