She has been in education for 14 years, three of which have been totally devoted to reading. Alycia Knicely of Berkeley Glenn Elementary School in Waynesboro believes a life-long reader is a life-long learner.

That is one of the many reasons she is the winner of this month's WHSV’s Golden Apple Award.

Knicely plays some of the characters of the books she reads, such as Little Red Riding Hood or Mrs. Wishy-Washy. She says she'll do anything to motivate the kids to read.

Knicely is a reading specialist at Berkeley Glenn, so she works with reluctant and struggling readers, but she says that when a child suddenly gets it makes the effort worthwhile for her.

She says, "When a child is struggling with reading and all of a sudden they get this gleam in their eye and they don't want to stop reading."

Principal Sharon Tooley nominated Knicely for the Golden Apple award and she says, "She goes above and beyond what an ordinary teacher does to make reading a big part of our school."

Tooley says Knicely is one of the reasons Berkeley Glenn students have made so much progress in reading.

Kncely responds, "I think it's a team effort. No one does anything here alone. We just work together to provide the best for the students here at Berkeley Glenn and I'm just fortunate to have the staff and the students that we have."

"To honor her is something that I feel really great about. She has this motto that she will catch students before they fall in reading and I think that is something she practices every single day," says Tooley.

That motto has also garnered Knicely the Berkeley Glenn Teacher of the Year award, which means she is in the running for the Waynesboro Teacher of the Year.