I have tremendous respect for teachers, as I studied to be a high school English teacher. So any local TV news story that shines a positive light on teachers in the classroom gets my attention.

I saw this story on social media and contacted Blaine Stewart, the co-host of the morning news on WTKR, Scripps’ CBS affiliate in Norfolk, Va., for more information.

Stewart says the station got an email from a teacher asking if one of the morning show anchors could visit her classroom, a common request for most TV stations.

Stewart says in the course of corresponding with Alicia Myrick, a third-grade math teacher in Murfreesboro, N.C., on the fringe of the station’s market, about a 90-minute drive away,  he realized she was something special.

“She told me how she has been battling breast cancer for the past year,” Stewart says.  “She’s been in and out of the classroom because of her treatments. But she says through it all, she always watched our morning show, and she says our team of personalities kept her smiling, even when she was in pain. The teacher said she and her classroom were all big fans of our show, which was a nice surprise. You normally don’t think of third graders watching the morning news, but I guess the TV is on as their parents are getting them ready to start their day.”

Stewart says the teacher was only expecting him, but he surprised her by bringing the morning news anchor team along with a field producer and photojournalist.

Stewart says he can be a pretty cranky old man, “but this one hit me right in the feels.”

“Our station makes a concerted effort for our anchors to be in the community as much as possible, whether it’s through visits like this or with frequent reporting,” Stewart says. “Social media has made it much easier for viewers to interact with the people they see on TV news, but nothing beats being face to face. Especially after the pandemic, it feels great to be able to make these connections with the people we serve and do it on their turf.”

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