LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Jeff Wootton was nominated by an anonymous student.

"Mr. Wootton is not only an amazing teacher, but an amazing person, too! He was my 7th grade geography teacher," said the student. "I learned so much about geography from his class, but also much more. Mr. Wootton teaches life lessons and how to be successful, as well as the subject we're learning. The year that I had him as a teacher, a lot of stuff happened in my life. My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, my sister left abruptly, I dislocated my knee cap, and I was battling severe depression and anxiety. Mr. Wootton always kept in touch with my family to make sure we were all doing alright and that I had everything I needed. He made sure I knew that he cared about me and that he'd be there to help if I needed to talk. Going to his class always made me feel better. It was a fun learning environment, and we knew we could all be happy and have fun while we learned."

"Two years after being in his class, I had a pulmonary embolism (five blood clots in my lungs) and was in the hospital for a long time," said the student. "Mr. Wootton would come up to the hospital and visit me to see how I was doing. After I got home, he would bring over meals for my family. He truly cares about his students. I'm now a junior in high school, and I still talk to him quite often. Last year, I came up to the school and would sit in his classroom to do my online learning so I could still have a social environment to get my school work done. Hands down, he has been the best teacher I've ever had."