SARANAC — Lisa Napper wants her students to smile.

She wants them to feel safe in her classroom and know from day one they are part of a family.

“My mom told me a long time ago that any decision I made with students, as long as I made it with my heart, it would never be the wrong decision.”

As a result of Napper’s dedication to education and her students, New York state has selected the fourth-grade teacher at Saranac Elementary School as 2009 recipient of the Helen Bach Moss Memorial Better Beginnings Award. The award recognizes teachers who are gifted in finding and nurturing the strengths of each student and fostering trusting relationships among pupils, parents, teachers and administrators.

‘EXCEPTIONAL’

“I have always thought she was an exceptional teacher who cares about students and nurtures them and cared about families and didn’t forget about them when they were no longer in her classroom,” said Saranac Elementary School Principal Marguerite Tamer.

“It doesn’t matter what she is going through in her life. She is constantly reaching out to people and has taught her students to be community contributors.

“She is always the first one in line to help out.”

The Better Beginnings Award was created to honor Helen Bach Moss, a young educator who touched the lives of many people and died suddenly in 1988.

Her family and friends petitioned the Board of Regents to establish a memorial fund and provided an endowment to award a cash stipend of $1,000 to the winning elementary teacher.

HELP WITH TRAGEDY

Renee Castine, a first-year teacher at Saranac Elementary School, first met Napper when Castine (then Roberts) was 5 years old.

Napper taught Castine’s brother, Joshua, when the young boy was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, 10 months before he passed away.