Melinda Lewis loves teaching. So much so that despite battling breast cancer, she still thinks of her students. 

“As I’ve been going through chemo and I’m absolutely sick, my students see that and that I can do hard things,” said Lewis, a sixth grade teacher at Sand Springs Elementary school. “That makes them realize they can do hard things too.”

Because of her dedication, Lewis was recently honored with the Most Valuable Educator award from Instructure, the makers of the Canvas Learning Management System in partnership with the Utah Jazz. Lewis was recognized at the Jazz game on Dec. 3.

Lewis’ method of teaching is all about mindset. “I try to help students know how important they are,” she said. “They are our future. My philosophy is that knowledge is power. They can be anything they want to be if they change their mindset. If a kid comes in and says they hate math, then every day I would say ‘I love math.’”

By the time they left class they were above grade level, said Lewis. “It’s how we talk about ourselves and help them to believe in themselves. Kids can invent things we don’t even know about right now. If they say ‘I want to be a professional basketball player’ I tell them ‘you can do that, but you also need an education.’”

Lewis was diagnosed with cancer in the summer. “I found a lump and had a mammogram, an MRI and ultrasound,” she said. “They told me it was benign and to come back in six months. When I went in they biopsied it and said it wasn’t what they thought it was.”

After having a double mastectomy, the doctors told her she didn’t need chemo or radiation. “But then they found it had spread so I started chemo in October,” Lewis said. 

Her focus is still in the classroom. “That’s how important my students are,” she said. “We need to be investing in them. My whole goal is to prepare them for junior high and high school. That’s the foundation they’re going to need.”