Meet Richmond County's 2022-2023 Teacher of the Year winner, finalists

Shikara Willis, a fifth-grade English teacher at C.T. Walker Magnet School, was named Richmond County's School System's new Teacher of the Year Thursday night.

"I thank God for giving me the heart and strength to be an educator, as well as the path that He has placed me on," Willis said. "For 19 years, I have been of service to children, I have come in contact with more than 1,000 children. That's more than 1,000 opportunities to make a positive impact on a child's life."

So who is Willis and who were the other top five finalists?

Shikara Willis: Winner

Willis' desire to educate stems from her earliest years.

"Even when I was younger, I always played 'school,' and I was always the teacher," she said. "So, it was one of those things from early on that just seemed to fit my personality."

After graduating from Paine College, Walden University and Augusta University, that dream became her reality.

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Part of her teaching involves trying the music, movies, TV shows, etc. that her students like in order to better relate to them.

"During recess they have shown me some clean dance moves, because I don't have rhythm, so they try to help me stay cool and relevant," Willis said. "We may do a little chant in class where someone will come up with a beat and we can chant some of the things that they know."

Sometimes she'll also pass around the football with the boys at recess, which often surprises them that she can even do that.

"I think it helps them to see me as a real person, because I don't think they always view their teachers as real people with real lives," she said.

Willis' advice for current and incoming teachers: "You really have to have a love and a heart for children. I call it a heart of service. If you cannot see yourself being a service to someone else five days a week, eight hours a day, having your name called and just pouring everything that you have into those young minds, then teaching is not for you."

Ebony Lindsey: Finalist

Ebony Lindsey is a STEM teacher at Wheeless Road Elementary and is a graduate of Paine College, Troy University and Leslie University. She has been teaching for 19 years.

STEM stands for "science, technology, engineering and math," and its curriculum has a lot of real-world applications, which is what Lindsey teacher her students.

"STEM is everything. We wouldn't have anything without STEM, without these skills," she said.

Through out the course, Lindsey teaches them how to be critical thinkers, collaborative, and innovative in whatever the problem is; and to be curious every day about the reason and the science behind what they see in their daily lives.

She described how students would run up to her to tell her when they found a fungus in their yard, and one specific instance during a bridge project where a student came to her and said "'Ms. Lindsey, I saw a truss bridge!' I said 'How'd you know?' he said 'They used triangles' and they said they went and explained to their parents how that bridge was different from another bridge.'" Lindsey said moments like these are exciting because "They listen!" and she makes sure her students know how excited and proud she is of them.

Lindsey's advice for current or incoming teachers: "Perseverance is gonna be key, and I tell them that the little notes and...drawings the kids give you, I tell them to keep that, because I tell them when they're stressed out, when they're frustrated, they can go back and look at that...and be reminded that they are here for a reason and for a purpose."

Vanessa Patten: Finalist

Vanessa Patten has been teaching across the Augusta area for 33 years, 26 of which has been in the Richmond County School System, but her interest in education stretches back even further.

"I was in 3rd grade when I first got my taste of being successful with helping someone else learn," she said. "I was one of those students that would finish her work early, so the teacher was trying to keep me occupied while she worked with other people, and when she would check my work and my work was correct, she would talk to me and say 'I want you to go help this particular student, but you cannot tell him answers.'"

Patten would go on to study at University of South Carolina Aiken, Grand Canyon University and Augusta University (then Augusta State University). Patten took that teaching method she learned back in 3rd grade and wanted to focus in on the younger children, like her 1st grade students at Warren Road Elementary. Before then, she taught older students, but saw many struggle due to foundational holes in their learning and wanted to be a part of building that foundation back up.

"If I do my job and do it well in 1st grade, they are going to leave 1st grade with all kinds of competencies," Patten said. "They'll be able to do mental math, they'll be able to compose a paragraph...they tell time, they count money...if I do my job and do it well, they are going to be OK forever."

Patten's advice for current and incoming teachers: "Children come to us with a fire in them...and we have the ability to either stoke that fire...or we could douse it, and so if you don't love it and you're not passionate about it, use your gifts elsewhere."

Melody Spires-Howe: Finalist

Melody Spires-Howe teaches a variety of subjects at Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School, including AP Psychology, AP World History and Honors World History, to the school's 10th and 12th graders. But in whatever she teaches, she tries to make it immersive.

"I design my assignments and activities so that students take an active role in what they are learning," Howe said. "They do the research, they draw those connections, and so they get to be very hands-on with what they're learning."

Howe is an Augusta University graduate and has spent her entire eight-year-long career in Richmond County schools.

As part of her immersive teaching style, Howe is also known to frequently visit a large world map in her room, so much so that her students created a map theme song anytime she referenced a map. She hears the song pretty frequently.

"I feel like it is important, before I can teach you why important groups around the world have similar cultures or they might have conflict with one another, you have to know where those places are, and often knowing where they are located, in terms of geography, it makes it easier to understand how they're connected to other groups and places," she said.

Howe's advice for new and incoming teachers: "Teach in a way that students feel that you care about them. I feel that students are more willing to participate and be involved when they know they're in a safe learning environment where they are appreciated and the teachers are caring."

Martina Anderson: Finalist

Martina Anderson initially got into education from a place of dissatisfaction.

"I was in the private sector at first...but decided that I did not like what I was doing. I didn't feel like I was accomplishing as much for people, for myself; wasn't being challenged enough," she explained, "So I went back to some of my friends who were high school teachers, they suggested that I try teaching, and so I hung out with them a few days at the school...I decided to try it and haven't looked back since."

Anderson graduated from Augusta University and has been teaching in Richmond County schools since 1994 in a variety of functions, from high school social studies teacher to high school special ed teacher. Now she is the media specialist at McBean Elementary School.

As a media specialist, Anderson enjoys being able to give the students more hands-on experiences with technology "so that they can become workers in society that can have critical thinking skills." She is also known to teach the children sign language.

Anderson is also able to use her skills to help her fellow teachers develop lessons and to incorporate technology into their lesson plans.

"They have the world at their fingertips now," she said. "There's no reason for anybody to not succeed or explore what they're interested in, and this technology allows them to do that."

Anderson's advice for new and incoming teachers: "Not to ignore any part of the child. Make sure you always reach their social, emotional development. It's imperative each child feels seen, heard, loved, cared for. Work closely with everyone in your school: guidance counselors, social workers, healthcare workers, etc...and, of course, throw away those worksheets, think outside the box, be a little more creative."

What happens now?

After the rest of Georgia's school systems confirm their individual Teachers of the Year, the state's department of education will further judge the collective pool of winners to choose five finalists for the coveted role of 2024 Georgia Teacher of the Year.

Last year, Richmond County's Teacher of the Year Vicki Knox from Deer Chase Elementary School made it to the state finals, but was not selected as Georgia's Teacher of the Year.

To date, no Augusta-area teacher has won the state title in over 20 years. If Willis were to win, not only would she clear that milestone, but she would be the area's first female teacher to win and the area's first African-American teacher to win.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: 2022-23 Richmond County Teacher of Year winner, finalists announced