WILDWOOD, Fla. — A Sumter County A+ Teacher really brings the sunshine. 

Eileen Badger, the librarian at Wildwood Elementary School, hosts the morning announcements on the loud speaker and brings plenty of laughter and song to get the day started on a positive note. 


What You Need To Know

  • Eileen Badger is the librarian at Wildwood Elementary

  • She hosts the morning announcements for the school

  • The Rufus and Chaka Khan song "Tell Me Something Good" starts off announcements

  • Badger gets to interact with all the students in her roles 

Badger, in a funky singing voice that mimics a popular song from the band Rufus and Chaka Khan, says, "And then I do a tell me something good, where we sing the 'Tell Me Something Good' and then we share something that someone has shared."

Badger chuckles when she says, "I sing a lot on the announcements. I have a terrible voice, but it's good for morning announcements here. My favorite group is from 4-year-olds to 12-year-olds. They're my biggest fans."

That joyful spirit is one of many reasons why Badger was nominated as an A+ Teacher. She creates a welcoming place for about 600 students on campus and another few hundred who are in virtual school.

It doesn't matter where her students are learning either because all of the books are accessible thanks to an online catalog that they can access, giving the students a passport to the world. 

Badger is well-known around campus, too. "I get to interact with every kid instead of just one classroom,” she says. “It's now an entire school, and I just absolutely love it."

The people in the small town where Badger grew up inspired her to choose a career in education. The heroes in her community were firefighters, police officers, and teachers. 

"I wanted to have the influence that they had on my life,” Badger says.  “I wanted to be that for the kids that I live in the community with."