BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — This week’s A+ teacher says she knew from a very young age that she would have a job working with children.

And 28 years later, she's one of the best educators in Hernando County schools.

Cathy Ferraro teaches kids at Eastside Elementary School that there is no limit to what they can do.

“You have to build a sense of community within your classroom,” she said. “You have to make children feel safe, because if they feel safe, they’ll take risks, and those risks are what make them grow and learn and just soar. These kids are capable of more than they want to believe.

"They are, and so it’s my job to help them not only believe in themselves, but to grow and achieve so much more than they realize.”

When Spectrum News visited, Ferraro was spearheading a schoolwide color run event, with kids throwing colored paint at each other.

“I love that she wants to give back to the whole school,” said principal Sarah Hardy. “And then, additionally, she does fun lessons that are of high rigor. She has high expectations for her kids — a lot of hands-on fun activities — and so they’re so engaged that they don’t want to misbehave. So her classroom really is a great place to be in."

Even during the final lesson of the school year, Ferraro still commanded the room, using her loving and caring nature to keep her children engaged.

“Make connections, build relationships with these kids,” she said. “If they know that you care, they’re go to work that much harder.”

She has only one classroom rule: respect.

“When we’re sitting down in our morning meeting and I’m sitting on the carpet with them, we’re all having conversations,” she said. “I’ll ask questions, ‘’What’s your favorite restaurant?’  So we start small and build up. And it’s just putting them on that pedestal and letting them know, that yes, you matter and yes, you can do this.”