Selika Gebhart is a second-grade teacher at Combs Traditional Academy. After years teaching first grade, she started her tenth year of teaching in a new grade.

“I was nervous, because I’ve done first grade for so long,” says Gebhart. But she has students who were in her classroom last year, and others who are familiar faces. She finds that second-graders are more independent and full of personality!

Gebhart says she originally thought she would teach older students, but she is happy to get kids started on their journey into reading.

“I've always liked math. It was that constant. It made sense to me,” says Gebhart. But she found that teaching reading was challenging and exciting.

“The science behind how someone learns to read is fascinating,” she says.

Nominating student Hazel writes, “Ms. Gebhart is great because she teaches me so much. She loves me and helps me when I have a problem. She is so nice and kind! She gives us fun stuff when we are really good in class. She is a great teacher because she is fun. She makes me happy and I love being in her class!”

Gebhart was born in Tucson, then moved to Tempe with her family and later settled in Queen Creek. She says she enjoyed playing school when she was younger, and she always took the role of teacher. From passing out pretend homework papers to friends, to working with kids when she was in high school, Gebhart was on the path to becoming an educator.

When she is not in the classroom, Gebhart enjoys crafting. She likes to paint and just learned how to crochet. She says she loves being outdoors and appreciates nature. Before COVID, she was into rock climbing and acro yoga, she says. Gebhart has done quite a bit of traveling, too.

“I've traveled to some really cool places,” Gebhart reports. “I've walked on glaciers in Alaska, I've been cave tubing in Belize, climbed the Mayan ruins in Guatemala, and visited castles in Italy.”

One of the most important lessons she teaches is kindness, says Gebhart. She advises her students that “It doesn’t matter if we like a person or dont like a person, we just have to be kind to everyone.”

“That’s what we want—for people to be kind to us,” she explains.