(MONUMENT, Colo.) — Throughout the month of March, FOX21 Local News is honoring Remarkable Women of Southern Colorado.

This week, we are introducing you to the winner of our Remarkable Women Campaign.

She grew up on a farm in Iowa. She’s a wife and mother of adult twin boys. And thankfully, she chose to call Southern Colorado home, because she is also a special education teacher who is spreading love and grace. Meet remarkable Julie Race.

For 16 years, Julie has been a special education teacher a Prairie Winds Elementary School in Monument.

Julie said, “I started out as a paraprofessional and then moved into the special education teaching role, and I have been in that role ever since.”

The STAR Program stands for strategies for teaching, based on Autism research.

“Our day, I could plan out the day, I could plan out our schedule. Our day is never the same,” said Julie.

The class starts with a morning meeting.

Julie said, “The favorite part of my job is just coming in every day, seeing them, seeing them get off the bus, seeing the kids come into our classroom, building that relationship again with them, but also with the staff that’s here at Prairie Winds. We are like a family to each other.”

And of course, there are some challenges.

“We never know how their nights have been. Some don’t sleep real well,” said Julie.

Many of these students are non-verbal.

“They can’t tell us some of their needs that they have or some of their wants that they have. So we build that language and so that is a challenge that we have, is trying to figure out what they need or want at a certain time,” said Julie.

Sending your child to school can be scary for any parent, especially when they need a little more love and grace. Thankfully for these students, Mrs. Race will be with them from kindergarten through sixth grade.

Julie said, “I love all of our kids and I love all the kids that I’ve had before. Part of that is just making sure that they know that they’re cared for and having that communication with parents.”

Not one, not two, not three, but seven parents nominated Julie as this year’s Remarkable Women of Southern Colorado winner.

“When you called me, I could not believe it. I could not believe that I was the one. I thought it would be someone else. And then when you told me seven nominations, I couldn’t believe that either. So it was very exciting,” said Julie.

But it’s the belief in her students that prepares them for life beyond Mrs. Race’s remarkable classroom.

Julie said, “I treat each of my children, each of the students in the classroom as individuals. And I… I know they can learn. And I’ve got to find that way for them to learn. I’m going [to] get emotional here, but I have got to find that way because I have the kids the longest amount of time when they’re in school. I have [had] them for seven years and I have to teach them ways to become independent, as independent as possible. But I also need them to know that they can succeed and they can do anything. Anything. If they just try, they can do it.”

Julie will head to Los Angeles in April, where all of the Remarkable Women winners across the nation will find out who the overall winner will be.