EDGARD — Gerzalle Blanks always knew she wanted to be a teacher.

She didn’t always know what kind of teacher, however.

“When I was younger I used to want to teach gymnastics,” the LaPlace native and 2005 graduate of East St. John High School said. “Then I realized that you have to know how to do gymnastics in order to teach gymnastics. I never was the sports type.”

The teaching part remained, however.

“I’ve always had a passion for teaching,” Blanks said. “I’ve always been in some type of leadership role. I guess I’m just bossy.”

After graduating from Southeastern Louisiana University with her degree in education, Blanks attended a job fair in Tangipahoa Parish. She was hired nearly on the spot to teach — not gymnastics, but first grade at Hammond Eastside Elementary School.

For the past five years Blanks has taught her students to color, read and write, quickly becoming a favorite among children and parents.

She became so popular, in fact, that last month she won the annual Golden Apple award from New Orleans TV station WDSU. The station’s Facebook followers are invited to nominate a favorite teacher. Whoever gets the most social media votes in each parish is the winner.

Nominated by her aunt, Tanya Johnson, who works for the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office, Blanks won the honor for Tangipahoa Parish, along with more than $600 in school supplies.

“I called it ‘A Teacher’s Christmas,’” Blanks said, ticking off the list of items she won, which included writing and construction paper, journals, white boards, hole punchers, scissors and “a plethora of crayons and markers. A lot of good things.”

It also was gratifying for Blanks personally, who, like many teachers, often feels under-appreciated. She also has an ongoing competition with her identical twin, Geralle.

“It’s great,” she said. “It’s always nice to be recognized for something good, especially something you’re passionate about. It definitely means a lot to me.”

In the fall, Blanks will return to Southeastern to pursue a master’s degree in educational leadership.

“I’m a Lion and a Wildcat,” she joked.

First, though, she is spending the summer giving back to her home parish. Blanks is the supervisor for the West Bank summer camp program at West St. John Elementary School, teaching preschoolers arts and crafts with some of the supplies she won in the contest.

“I was a counselor and aide last year on the East Bank,” she said. “This year they asked me to come back and be a supervisor on the west side.”

This week’s projects included making tortoises and hares out of paper plates as a lesson in fairness, and personal pizzas out of canned biscuits just because it’s fun.

“I love working with kids, so anything dealing with the children I’m all for it,” Blanks said.

“We do a lot of arts and crafts, a lot of outdoor activities, swimming twice a week, we go to the library. It’s a lot of fun things.”