Teacher Spotlight: Chelle Fisher

Chelle Fisher, who teaches third grade here at Wake Christian Academy, was born and raised in Hong Kong, China.  Growing up, she never saw herself as a teacher, but her mother did. As a girl, when Mrs. Fisher would get home from school, she would teach her sister what she had learned that day. Mrs. Fisher hadn’t seen it herself, but her mother knew that she would be a teacher someday.

In school, Mrs. Fisher’s favorite teacher was named Mr. Brannon. He taught high school English, but he did this in such a way that commanded respect yet maintained a fun and understanding classroom environment.

Mrs. Fisher went to Bob Jones University during which she was given an assignment to interview a number of school principals. She interviewed a family friend named Mr. Chenkel; this interview later led her to teach in a small church school in Delaware. Two years later, Mr. Chenkel left for a position at Wake Christian, and a year later, Mrs. Fisher followed him here and began teaching in the sixth grade at Wake Christian.

Mrs. Fisher has taught at Wake Christian for twenty-seven years, and she’s been a third grade teacher for most of her time here. Mrs. Fisher’s favorite part about teaching is when the lightbulb goes off in a student’s mind. Seeing the students connect the dots in their heads and knowing they’re really learning are what make her job worthwhile to her.

She also loves teaching history, and likes to bring the history to life by telling the stories in such a way that excites her students.

She also teaches her students Biblical principles with illustrations like the orderliness of math, characters’ journeys in reading, and the solutions of history.  Mrs. Fisher especially emphasizes that her pupils look for the peacemakers in their reading to see how conflicts are handled. She also helps her students to look at history from a Christian perspective to see whether or not the right decisions were made.

Working at Wake Christian has been a blessing to Mrs. Fisher. At Wake Christian she has found the freedom to teach effectively. That’s been especially important because after thirty years of teaching, Mrs. Fisher has found that kids are learning differently than they did before.  In her opinion, the flexibility of ideas and teaching methods has been vital in learning to teach this new generation of students.  She is thankful for the coworkers and friends that share ideas and solutions with her as well.

The Wake Christian family has been a huge blessing in her life over the years, one that she thanks God for.