Mrs Yvonne Cheen-Tay of Hong Kah Secondary School grew up in a family of teachers. Her secret is to touch her students' hearts so as to motivate and encourage them. Both Mrs Cheen-Tay and her students keep personal writing logs which they share among themselves. Her students have also adopted her practice of sending notes of encouragement to them and send such notes to each other. Mrs Cheen-Tay sums up her caring philosophy with a simple phrase, "As long as I can touch one student, it's worth being a teacher."

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Mr Alan Johnson of St Joseph's Institute sees teaching as a personal calling, having come from a family of teachers. His passion for theatre and music has found its way into the classroom, where he uses rock songs to teach his students about symbols, and brings his students on excursions to plays and museums to enrich their knowledge. Mr Johnson also inculcated a growing culture of debate in his school, starting with class debates where quieter students are encouraged to speak, and culminating with his guidance of a debate team that reached the finals of The Arena, a televised interschools' debating competition.

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Ms Foo Soo Ling of Nanyang Girls' High School is a passionate learner, which results in her being an inspiring teacher. She possesses a great drive and positive attitude towards learning and is an inspiring influence on students and fellow teachers alike. Ms Foo keeps her lessons interesting by utilising different strategies and approaches for each topic. Among other things, she also initiated a specially tailored reading programme that encourages her students to cultivate and share their love for reading with each other.

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Mr Arthur Kok of Nan Hua High School is an evangelist of English whose goal is to make English desirable by igniting a love of the language in his students. He is a role model English speaker who engages his students by tailoring lessons for each class to stimulate learning and response. Under his guidance as Head of Department, students and staff alike have benefited from Nan Hua Speaks, a weekly sketch performed by teachers and students on commonly mispronounced English words to the school. Mr Kok has raised both the standard of English in his school as well the competence of his fellow English and Literature teachers.

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Ms Toh Ji Rong of Greenridge Secondary School is a young and energetic teacher who constantly engages her students in different ways. She focuses on student-centred approaches that excite her students and build their confidence in using English. Through friendly competitions and computer-based learning using informative websites, she has ignited her students' interest in English and improved their skills. Ms Toh also initiated an English grammar programme for Secondary 1 students in her school who have been identified as being weak in grammar.

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Ms Chan May Ling of Clementi Primary School is a creative teacher who goes beyond merely using textbooks to teach her students. She creates context for each lesson with PowerPoint slides that help her students understand the topic better. Ms Chan also enriches each lesson by sharing her personal experiences so that each student can relate better to the lesson. The effect of her lessons can be seen in the competitive nature of her students, who strive to achieve the highest number of perfect scores for their grammar tests in their teams.

Mdm Jaswinder Khosa of Huamin Primary School has 22 years of teaching experience but still retains the same enthusiasm and passion that intoxicated her on her first day of teaching. She always demands the best of herself and seeks to evoke the best in her students, and continually renews her teaching and leads others through sharing best practices at local, national, and international forums. Mdm Khosa engages her students by weaving interesting anecdotes and stories into her lessons so that her students can relate better to them.

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