Mrs. Malone strives to reach each child everyday. "I believe to be an outstanding teacher, one must look at the educational profession not only as a career, but also as a mission of the heart. I have learned through my teaching and parenting experiences that connecting facts and figures with times and places is not enough. The opportunity to connect with a child's heart, his feelings, his need for encouragement in certain areas, these things make a teacher outstanding. When I reach out and help in some way to lessen a child's social or emotional uncertainty and at the same time make all of the traditional educational connections, I feel only then that I have filled the job description of a teacher."

Mrs. Malone is also an innovator in the classroom. She began a fine arts, block scheduling format at Pepperell Elementary. In this format, students are offered daily participation in fine arts class rather than the traditional method of one class per week.

Mrs. Malone was rewarded with a $500.00 check provided by Oglethorpe Power Corp., an engraved glass apple and a door plaque from Northwest Georgia Credit Union, and a trip to a national education conference.