by Cinnamon Dowd

On Thursday, November 3, Metter Elementary School’s Miranda Rigdon stood before a room of respected educators, leaders and community members as Candler County’s 2011-2012 Teacher of the Year. “I was certainly not expecting this,” she said in shock. “This is very much an honor.” A third grade teacher at MES, Rigdon has been an educator for 12 years, and says her inspiration came from her own teachers in school. “I had a lot of great teachers throughout my school career, and one of the most special teachers that I had was Martha Ward,” she explained. “She was my third grade teacher, and just made learning fun.” Rigdon says to this day, that is her very same philosophy for the classroomto make learning fun. MES Principal Lesa Brown explained that Rigdon possessed so many qualities that warranted her being the teacher of the year. “She is admired by her co-workers as well as students and parents,” said Brown. “Miss Miranda has the keen ability to meet the needs of all of the students in her classroom... She knows how to meet every student where they are, and then take them to each their full potential.” Accepting her award, Rigdon thanked everyone, especially her third grade team, who came in support of her. “I love my job. I love my school. I love this community. And I love the girls I work with...and Chris (Gunter)!” She added. Rigdon was one of four nominated for the teacher of the year, as each school names a representative. Each teacher is then in-terviewed by an out-oftown panel of judges who are respected citizens in the field of education. The judges then select the county’s overall teacher of the year. Among the other candidates for Candler County’s Teacher of the Year were Metter Intermediate School’s Allison Dekle, Metter Middle School’s Dwayne Davis and Metter High School’s Rosanne Ferrell.

Courtesy of Metter Advertiser