“Teaching is an amazing opportunity to affect so many lives just by doing what you love.” This sentiment of gratitude and service is just one of the many reasons Michelle-Anne Spring, a 4th grade teacher at Hawthorne Park Elementary School in Willingboro, NJ, was selected as the 2019-20 Burlington County Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Spring, a Rutgers Alternate Route alumnus, has been teaching in the school for seven years and spoke with us about changing careers, community, family, and how the Rutgers Alternate Route program helped her prepare for the most rewarding professional experience of her life.