For Arrowhead high school teacher Heidi Hamilton, rooting for the underdog has always been a part of who she is.

“I have a brother who has special needs who is three years younger than me and he was kind of bullied his entire life and not to mention I was being an extremely tall female bullied.”

It ultimately led her to become a special education teacher herself. Twenty-six years later, she’s still going strong. Not just helping special needs students, but all students reach their goals.

“You really kind of get a knack for knowing what to do, part of it is making, building that report and trust with the students and helping them think in different ways that they may not know how to.”

That relationship with students led a fellow teacher to nominate her for National University System-Sanford Teacher Award.

“Heidi is a dynamic force in the classroom, she’s passionate, she’s demanding, she has such high expectations that she continues to hold the students to. That’s what I’m most impressed with.”

But for Hamilton, it was her own brother that encouraged her to continue to push students. Like senior Brock, who now even has his own line of t-shirts.

“She always helps me, for teaching today.”

Teachers like Jorgensen say Hamilton’s determination for each student is what makes her so successful.

“She inspires me to want to be better. That’s what we want for our kids, that’s what we want for our co-workers. You want to be around people who want to be better and that’s Heidi.”

As for the award, Hamilton says she couldn’t do it without her team.

“You don’t do this profession for the money or to get recognized, you do it because you want to make a difference in someone’s life. Like you said, to get that recognition is special and it’s humbling and it’s...I’m honored, very honored.”

Hamilton was the only teacher in Wisconsin to win the award.

She also received a prize of $10,000, which she says she has not even thought of what she will do with yet.