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HANNIBAL, MO -- "She has awesome science experiments," and "she lets us learn a lot on the computers."

That's what a group of 5th graders have to say about their teacher for the 2008-2009 school year.

Mrs. Julie Fessenden teaches at Oakwood Elementary in Hannibal, where the scientific method is alive, well, and fun.

Fessenden said, "I wanted to do something that would have a lasting impact on the world, and I could not think of a more valuable occupation that would have a better impact than working with the children."

A group of her students decided to nominate Mrs. Fessenden for KHQA's Excellent Educator after watching the very first teacher get awarded at the beginning of the school year.

Devin Nelson said, "We thought we should nominate Mrs. Fessenden, because we think it's easier when she shows us things."

Briar Douglas said, "My friends and I thought that we should nominate Mrs. Fessenden, because she has interesting science experiments, which include chewing gum, popcorn, all this different kind of stuff, and she works on computers all of the time."

And that variety has piqued her students' interest in science and the scientific method.

Fessenden said, "We start with familiar objects. What questions can we ask bout familiar objects? Which chewing gum has flavor that will last longer? Which brand of popcorn pops larger kernels? Those are questions they can answer and use the scientific method to find answers to those questions."

And those are just some of the reasons that make Mrs. Julie Fessenden this month's KHQA's Excellent Educator.

This is our final KHQA Excellent Educator award of the year.

We'd like to thank everyone for nominating your favorite teacher. As I'm sure you're aware, there are many excellent educators here in the Tri-States.

If your favorite wasn't selected this year, there's always next school year.

So keep your nomination ready for our first recipient of the school year, which will be presented in September.