Go behind the classroom door to see what a typically day is really like as a teacher.

BIG SPRING, Texas (KMID/KPEJ) – Whether you’re a parent dropping your kids off at school, or you’re the student sitting in a classroom all day, teachers have an impact on everyone, especially those at Big Spring Independent School District.

But what do you actually know about their day-to-day?

ABC Big 2 took a page right of the teachers book and shadowed Goliad Elementary School’s very own fourth grade math teacher, Mrs. Georgia Molina. Molina sat down for an exclusive look at the ins and outs of molding young minds.

Right off the bat, Molina mentioned the hard work, and how it made everything worth it.

“I wouldn’t trade it for the world. There’s days that I go home tired, and I still go to work, work at home. But it’s all worth it. It’s all worth it.”

Mrs. Molina has been a part of BSISD for 24 years, and 14 of those have been served as a fourth grade math teacher. She said she knew this was what she was going to do since she was younger.

She said her father, and some of her family, grew up in Mexico, and her first taste of teaching was helping her family learn English.

“Finished school, I didn’t go to college, I ended up getting married and then going on to working at a school. And loved it. I could take my kids with me and they were there with me and I loved the kids, so I knew, everything that I thought when I was little and teaching my friends in Mexico how to speak English, I thought, ‘hey! This is it!'” she shouted. “And then I had a friend that said, ‘you need to become a teacher. You know, you’re doing everything a teacher does, just do it’. So I did and 14-years later, here we are, being a teacher and I love it.”

Molina grew up in Big Spring and is a West Texas girl at heart, studying at Howard College and then UTPB. She knew she wanted to stay, and support the community she knew and loved that supported her throughout her life.

“You know, this is where I grew up. I went to school in Coahoma, and like you said, I went here to Howard and then UTPB and just giving back to the community and watching, I’ve had some students were my students a long time ago and then come back with their kids and to be able to see that. I’ve had families that have started out with one child and I ended up getting their three kids or two kids,” she said shocked.

She said she never imagined the impact she could have at this position.

“Just knowing that I’m making an impact, I see kids at school, I mean, like at Walmart or any other place, that come up to me. Just knowing, that I have them for one year, but I have to love them and teach them and they still stay with me and I make that impact in them.”

Mrs. Molina added, the good days outweigh the bad, but those not on the inside can’t see the struggle and frustration teachers face on a daily basis.

“The struggle sometimes is when the kids come from a broken home and you have to love them. For people out there, they think, our job is the easiest job and it isn’t,” she urged. “We have 20 or 23 kids and not all of them are the same, and you have some kids that come from broken homes and no matter what, you have to love all 23 and you have to get to know them.”

And said she experiences more heartache than one could imagine.

“When you lose one, you know, you move away, you hurt because you think, ‘are the other teachers going to love him the way we love him?’

But when asked, “What is your ‘why’? What is your passion that fuels you for teaching?”

She had a perfect response.

“My why is my kids. Just to have that opportunity to show my kids, not only teaching them math, but teaching them for their life. I mean they’re my kids and I treat them like my kids,” she said adamantly. “The why, is making sure that they understand exactly what to expect in fourth grade, in math, or anything else and going on to the next level, in fifth grade, and going on until they graduate and seeing that they succeed in life.”

Molina emphasized that in the Big Spring area, and Texas as a whole, teachers need as much help as they can get.

“In this area, all over Texas, yes! If they love children and they love teaching, this is for them.”

She said, it may not be for every one, but there are so many opportunities for a rewarding feeling. And that the start of every day is a chance to start over.

“That’s the best part right there. Is knowing that I have another day with them and another day to teach them something new. That feeling is, oh, I can’t describe the feeling but it is great!” she smiled. “And I know I keep saying great, but it’s starting the day all over again. That’s what I tell them. You can always have mistakes but we leave them behind, we learn from our mistakes and we move up. And the day begins and it’s a fresh new start, and I think that’s what it is. It’s a new start that we get here every day.”

Molina said she knows there has always been this stigma that teachers don’t get paid enough for their role as a teacher, a friend, family, a supporter. She said while that might be true, it doesn’t matter to her.

“We don’t get paid enough, I can say that. But to me, it wasn’t the money, it was not the money. It was my kids. And yes! Do I spend on my kids? Absolutely! The pay, I believe it’s not where it should be. But, if you love your job and you love your kids, you’ll do it. And I mean, I do, so it works for me.”

Overall, the kids that brighten her day every day, are what make everything worth it.

“They’re my kids. I think I’m going to cry because, I tell their parents, they’re my kids. Here at school, I’m going to do everything to protect them and everything. When you see them and you see them succeed, and they come back and they tell you, it’s this feeling that, your child came back.”

Mrs. Molina’s fourth grade class liked to add there thoughts on their teacher: “We love Mrs. Molina and Mrs. Colby!!!!”