34-year-old Jeffrey Chow always wanted to be a doctor, but in college, developed a passion for teaching children.
Chou's 6th grade students are thrilled about his award, but they already knew they had the best teacher in the state:
"He knows our personalities and he'll come over to us and if we're having trouble, he'll work with us individually," 6th grader Swathi Prakash said.
"Whenever we're having trouble we can depend on him. He's a good friend, good teacher, best teacher I've ever had!" student Renee Corbin said.
"I really try to make sure I look at each individual student as a learner, but also as a person," Chou said.
At this week's award ceremony in Harrisburg, he was joined by Governor Ed Rendell and Chou's wife, who is also an Abington district teacher and is expecting their first child next month.
He has taught at Highland Elementary for 14 years:
As Action News was leaving Highland, a couple of Mr. Chou's former students, from 2002, stopped to congratulate him.
"We just love our time with Mr. Chou. It's an honor to have been in his class," former student Alex Kress said.
"Got to show him some love, my 6th grade teacher, he was the man," former student Nick Smith said.
