“When you have the choice to be right or to be kind, always pick kind.”

Although that quote comes from internationally renowned motivational speaker Dr. Wayne Dyer, it also serves as Natalie DiFusco-Funk’s classroom philosophy.

DiFusco-Funk, 33, grew up in Cranston and graduated from Cranston East High School in 1999. In October, she was named 2016 Virginia Teacher of the Year, and she plans to use that honor to promote her educational philosophy and the importance of socio-emotional learning.

“If kids learn to be kind, they grow into adults that choose to be kind,” she said, and those adults are best equipped to contribute as positive world citizens.

DiFusco-Funk knew she wanted to be a teacher on the first day of fifth grade with her teacher and inspiration, Jan Pilibosian, at Eden Park School.

“On the first day she did a lesson on antibodies, jumping up and down to demonstrate how they moved through the body,” she said. “That’s when I knew I wanted to be a teacher.”

Pilibosian was energetic. She made education fun with out-of-the-box lessons such as a “comma dance” to show how to use the punctuation, and a funeral for the word “a lot” to discourage students from using the word over better descriptors. To this day, DiFusco-Funk said she feels “uncomfortable” using the word in writing.

After high school, DiFusco-Funk went on to receive both her undergraduate and master’s degrees from Boston College before teaching in the Newton, Mass., school district for seven years.

She then moved to Virginia after meeting her husband. Although she began there as a reading specialist, she missed the classroom and took a position as a fifth grade teacher at West Salem Elementary in Salem, Va., where she has been for the past five years.

DiFusco-Funk was first nominated for, and won, teacher of the year honors at her school. She then moved on to the district and regional competitions, winning for Region 6.

All regional winners had to prepare for an interview and speech as part of the statewide application. DiFusco-Funk, after practicing over and over in front of her young son’s stuffed animals, said she rehearsed so often her husband had the speech memorized, too.

In October, all nominees were invited to the Executive Mansion in Richmond, where Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe made the announcement.

“It was like the Oscars with the closed envelope, the suspense and speeches. It was all so exciting,” DiFusco-Funk said. “It is such an honor to be recognized for something I feel so honored to do in the first place.”

As Virginia’s Teacher of the Year, DiFusco-Funk will participate in a conference with other state winners in San Antonio, Texas, in January. She will also spend a week in Washington, D.C., with an opportunity to meet the president in April. She will take a trip to Finland in June and attend Space Camp in July. She is also Virginia’s nominee for National Teacher of the Year.

DiFusco-Funk believes by having these educational experiences and interacting with other teachers from across the country, she will become a better educator with more “experiential knowledge” from which to pull.

As a teacher, she stresses the importance of “socio-emotional” learning, and said she and her students often focus on lessons of how to be kind to one another, deal with conflict, and express oneself in a positive and constructive manner.

“I believe in building community within the classroom,” she said.

Having worked in various schools, and students with different learning abilities, DiFusco-Funk believes teachers should be held accountable for ensuring all students, both high and low achieving students, are learning and progressing through the year.

“I believe that no matter who is in front of me, they deserve the absolute best of what I have to offer every day,” she said.