From directionless to purposeful, how Spencer grad became GA Pre-K Teacher of the Year

When she graduated 20 years ago from Spencer High School in Columbus, Charlotte Richards didn’t have any career ambition. Her only goal was to move away from her hometown in Chattahoochee County and see the world.

“I just felt like my purpose was somewhere else,” she told the Ledger-Enquirer. “But it wasn’t; it was right here in Cusseta.”

And right there in ChattCo, she is the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning Prekindergarten Teacher of the Year for public schools.

Here’s how that happened.

‘It was a little leap for her’

After she graduated from Spencer in 2003, Richards, whose last name then was White, worked at Dollar General and became a single mother.

When her daughter was 3 and started preschool at the Chattahoochee County Education Center, Richards began working there as a paraprofessional special-education teacher’s aide to be on the same campus and have the same schedule as her child.

Richards was a parapro from 2010-17. She enjoyed the work and received positive feedback from her supervisors. Tabatha Walton, who was ChattCo’s assistant superintendent then and taught Richards in fifth grade, encouraged her to attend college to earn teacher certification.

In 2018, while she was in her last semester with the online Walden University program, Richards received a call from ChattCo Education Center principal Kenyada Heard, who asked her to apply for the school’s pre-k teacher opening.

“It was a little leap for her,” Heard told the Ledger-Enquirer. “However, she did it with grace and with style. She’s just an all-around amazing teacher and amazing person.”

Richards recalled the words of support Heard told her when she expressed doubt about her ability to do the job after she was hired: “Just go in there, close the door and teach.”

‘Well-oiled machine’

While the Ledger-Enquirer visited her classroom — the same classroom where Richards was a second-grader — she used a mix of sweetness and sternness to conduct her students’ cacophony of activity into a symphony of education, motivating her students to focus long enough to teach them her detailed lesson plan.

A segment of their day is allotted to center time, an hour-long period when her 19 students ages 4 and 5 rotate around areas of the classroom dedicated to working on certain skills. Those centers are for dramatic play, math/science, computers, reading, music, blocks, writing and art.

During this period, each student has a one-on-one session with Richards for approximately 3 minutes to work on their weakest skills.

“Her classroom runs like a well-oiled machine,” Heard said. “… She is very persistent about establishing great routines and procedures with the students.”

The state’s standards expect pre-k students to spell their name, identify shapes and colors and have the independence and social skills needed to succeed in kindergarten, Richards said.

ChattCo adds an extra pre-k standard, Richards said: to ensure the students know the names and sounds of the letters in the alphabet to improve their chances of learning to read in kindergarten.

On average, only one or two of her 19 students start the school year already having mastered those skills — but an average of at least 15 of them end the school year meeting those requirements, Richards said.

At the start of this semester, assessments measuring school readiness, math, language and literacy showed all of the 19 students Richards taught last school year in pre-k were properly prepared for kindergarten. They outscored the students she didn’t teach by 37%.

“It’s a lot of pressure,” she said, “but we make it happen every single year. … It’s an amazing feeling.”

When she sees her instruction help struggling students learn to spell their name or identify a color or draw a shape, “the light that’s on their faces, like, ‘I did it. I did it, Mrs. Richards.’ That’s the blessing in it all,” she said. “The reward is that I get to be their first teacher and make a big difference in their life.”

‘They’re my babies’

Each school day, Richards warmly greets her students at the classroom door when they arrive.

“For some of those kids, that’s the first time that they’ve heard ‘I love you’ all morning, since they opened their eyes,” she said. “… They’re my babies, every last one of them. They’re mine.

“… I want my kids to know that they are loved and they are supported, and on their worst day, they have me in their corner. … God has given me this talent, given me this gift, so I’ve got to use it.”

The spectrum of abilities in her students is tremendous: Some students start in her class already knowing how to read; others can’t name the letters in the alphabet or say their sounds. So to meet them where they are, Richards milks as much instruction as she can out of every moment.

“It’s about giving these kids the best possible experience their first year in school,” she said. “This is a big jump to come from home, to come from Head Start, to come from daycare. … I want parents to have faith in me that I’m going to take care of their child and that I’m going to provide the best experience I can for their kid to make sure that they’re ready for kindergarten.”

To help her do that, Richards advises parents to let their children be as independent as possible at home.

“Allow them to make mistakes and let them to know that it’s OK because, when they come to my classroom, they’re going to make mistakes,” she said. “We’re going to have challenges. They have to be used to that.”

For example, allow them to choose their outfit for the day, to dress and to open and close their book bag by themselves.

“That creates self-confidence for them,” she said.

And she urges parents to read to their children every day and discuss the story.

“Simple conversations that open their imagination and open their mind and allow them to connect home life and school life into one,” she said.

‘So many people pour into me’

Richards credits her parents, her teachers and her colleagues with boosting her confidence.

Reflecting on how she went from a directionless high school graduate to a purposeful pre-k teacher, Richards said, “You have to surround yourself with people that believe in you, even when you don’t believe in yourself. I’ve had so many people pour into me, to just make sure that I fulfilled the potential that God as given me. If it wasn’t for those teachers and those mentors, I wouldn’t be here.”

Richards is the winner in the public school category out of more than 1,100 pre-k teachers in public schools across the state. Merodie Brown of New Odyssey for Children in Gwinnett County is the winner in the private childcare center category.

Their prizes are $3,000 for themselves, $3,000 for their classroom makeover and $1,500 to pay for substitute teachers while they are away from school representing the Georgia Pre-K Program at speaking engagements, conferences and modeling effective practices.

The selection process included nominations from principals, written applications, interviews and classroom observations.

Heard explained why she nominated Richards for this award.

“She loves her students, meets them exactly where they are academically and just works hard to make sure they reach their highest potential,” Heard said. “You couldn’t ask for a better pre-k teacher to help build the foundation for their educational career. … Her students adore her, and so do her parents. … Always has their best interest at heart. It’s truly just unbelievable to see her in action.”

Richards now is married, her daughter is a senior in high school, her son is in fourth grade, and she and her husband bought a home.

“So I’m here,” she said. “They can’t get rid of me. I’m invested in Cusseta.”

Richards hopes her story can be a life lesson for others.

“You can come from a small town with no grocery store, no traffic light, and then be the No. 1 (pre-k) teacher in the state of Georgia,” she said.

Richards summarized the message she wants to share at her speaking engagement.

“I’m going to speak my truth,” she said. “I’m going to speak from my heart, and I hope that I can bring light to how important pre-k is. It’s not mandatory. It should be. Every child should have the opportunity.”