CLINTON, Tenn. — Sheila Skeans spent most of her life as an educator and a lover of kindness.
"This is my 38th year," she said.
Skeans is one of hundreds of thousands of teachers across the country reaching students in need every single day, and according to new data -- that matters.
The focal point of Brigham Young University's most recent study shows, even for students with four or more adverse childhood experiences, more than one good encounter with someone like a teacher could make them healthier adults.
"I didn't want any child to not have someone who loved them," Skeans said.
Skeans believes there is some magic in teaching. Her love is now with students at the Innovation Academy at Anderson County High School. It is a program helping students who've experienced hardship graduate.
"You see the light of hope come back on that is the best," she said.
Thriveworks child therapist Amanda Gilliam said this isn't just something people say.
"When a kid feels known and seen and respected, they can really see the world in a different way," Gilliam said.
She said just the presence of a safe a adult can instill some of life's most important messages.
"That they are worth knowing, that they are worth being cared for," Gilliam said.
Sharing that kind of care with students is the light of Miss Skeans' life.
"It's the most amazing job and they pay me too," she said.
In her career, Skeans reached almost 2,000 students, something she credits to a love of teaching and of course a love of kindness.
"I long for a kinder world," she said.
The kind of place where people where students have what and who they need.
"It's a human heart connected to another human heart," Skeans said.