Suzanne Hartley has won a prestigious ASG National Excellence in Teaching Award and is now competing for the national award - which comes with a whopping cash prize towards her school.
The Te Puke Primary teacher was honoured at a special school assembly on Friday for gaining the regional award. She will now be going up against other teachers from around the country for a prize of $5000 for her school, which she hoped to use to build an outdoor music zone.
To get the award, a teacher had to be nominated by someone in the community, then write an essay.
"The principal told me at the end of last year that someone had nominated me for it. I've been working on an outdoor music zone with my kids, when I saw that $5000 prize, I thought that would be cool to get for it. I talked to the principal and he said go for it."
During the Christmas holidays, Mrs Hartley worked on her essay for the prize, discussing what she did as a teacher, how she helped children with their learning, how she involved the community in their learning and how she engaged the children.