NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — Colorful letters on the door to Mr. Kelvin Martin's room at Niagara Falls High School spell out the phrase, "This is Our Happy Place," but it's more than just a saying. It really does feel like the happiest place inside Western New York's largest high school.
"Being a high school administrator has its challenges," Assistant Principal Cheryl Vilardo told 2 On Your Side. "So if I'm ever having a bad day, that is the classroom that I go to to feel happy."
"In terms of our school day, it's like most school days for most students, but I would say we have more fun," Mr. Martin said.
Martin teaches life skills in the district's special education department. He's not the kind of teacher who just stands at the board and talks to his students from the front of the class.
"We always have the radio playing, we try to have activities where the kids get out of their chairs," he said.
"He makes it look easy, and if you spend time in there you know it's not actually easy," said Vilardo, who is also the adminstrator in charge of special education. "They're the students with the highest needs in the building, and he just takes such good care of them. He really cares for them like they are his own children."
Mr. Martin found teaching more than two decades ago, after wrapping up his service in the U.S. Army.
"I fell upon the career," he said. "I fell upon the career, and I think it was my destiny. Best decision I ever made."
He knows how important it is for his students, and all the students in the building, to feel understood at school.
"I didn't see a lot of people of color, Black or brown, when I was in high school, as being teachers and principals, so for me it's just an opportunity to give back to the community," he said. "But one more thing. you don't have to look like the kids you work with to understand them. Just have the patience, open mind, open heart and the willingness to take kids as they are and learn."
May 3rd - 7th is National Teacher Appreciation Week.Text photos of your favorite teachers with their name and school to 716-849-2200 to see them featured on-air.