WINTER GARDEN, Fla. — A student nominated Marsha Campbell as an A+ Teacher, saying that she not only lights up the room, but she makes it a point to connect with each student.

Eighth graders at Foundation Academy are attentive during Campbell’s class at their private Christian school.

“I want them to be engineer minded. I want them to understand that every electronic device, from the cell phone, smart watch, even the aircraft; they have circuit boards in them. So, I want them to know that things don’t just turn on. The wiring has to be correct,” Campbell said.

She says it is important to spark their interest with hands-on activities to keep them engaged.

When Spectrum News 13 stopped by during the school year, the students were busy making a simple circuit using common materials. It wasn’t easy to do.

“The whole goal is to not give up. I just want them to persevere because if Thomas Edison would have given up, we would never have the light bulb,” she said.

It is hard to believe that when Campbell was her students’ age, science was not her favorite subject.

“Because I grew up hating it because it wasn’t fun. All we did was take notes,” she said.

However, that’s not the case in her class.

Campbell said it was when she went back to college that she really developed her love for science.

“And the professors. They just made it so engaging. It was fun. It was intriguing and, most importantly, I got it and I never gave up,” she said.

That is something she tries to instill in her students these days.

“That’s the thing I tell my students, ‘Don’t make the mistake I did.’ So, what I try to do is I identify these budding scientists within each of them because I don’t know who is going to be the next chemist or the pharmacist or the doctor. I teach them as I wish someone would have taught me when I was growing up.”