Photo by Jon Anderson.
Sandy Ritchey, a literacy coach at Crestline Elementary School in Mountain Brook, was honored as Alabama’s alternate Elementary Teacher of the Year for 2016-17 at a ceremony at the RSA Plaza in Montgomery, Alabama, on Wednesday, May 11, 2016.
Crestline Elementary School teacher Sandy Ritchey was recognized in Montgomery May 11 as Alabama’s alternate Elementary Teacher of the Year.
Ritchey was among the “Final Four” candidates for 2016-17 Alabama Teacher of the Year, each of whom had biography videos shown to an audience at the awards ceremony at the top of the RSA Plaza.
Clay-Chalkville High School teacher Dana Jacobson was named this year’s winner, and Dawn Davis, a teacher at Montana Street Academic Magnet School in Dothan, was the overall Alternate Teacher of the Year.
Crestline Elementary Principal Laurie King said she was very proud of Ritchey. While Ritchey has been at Crestline for just three years, she has led to remarkable changes among the entire faculty.
As a literacy coach at Crestline, Ritchey spends most of her time working with other teachers, helping them perfect their craft and teaching the teachers how to best work with the different style learners in their classrooms, King said.
Ritchey is an education expert, but her expertise would mean little if she had not gained credibility and trust from her colleagues, King said. In a very short time, she has fully involved herself in the school and built a very high level of trust among the faculty, King said.
“She’s so talented and loved,” King said. “They follow her … Basically, they’ll do whatever she asks them to do … She has quickly become a part of our family.”
King, who has been at Crestline for 30 years (the past six as principal), said she involves Ritchey in a lot of decisions made at the school and that Ritchey has been a big help in guiding the vision of the school.
Before coming to Crestline, Ritchey spent 11 years with Hoover City Schools. She said she was deeply humbled that she was even nominated for Teacher of the Year by the faculty at Crestline.
“I feel so blessed to have been nominated by this wonderful faculty,” said Ritchey in a previous interview with Village Living. This honor is shared with everyone that has been a part of my journey, that has had an impact in my life and has influenced me and made me who I have become. We all share in this honor together.”
Ritchey said she always knew she wanted to work with children. As the oldest of 16 grandchildren, Ritchey said being around kids was just a way of life for her. The daughter of immigrants, Ritchey was on reduced-price meals while in school.
“I probably had little hope for higher education,” she said.
Ritchey said she was blessed to receive an education from Homewood City Schools, where teachers got to know her, believed in her and taught her well.
Being a teacher, said Ritchey, is her calling.
“It was so amazing to me that at a young age I knew the gift that God had given me,” she said. “I promised myself at that moment that I would always give that gift to other children and use it to the best of my ability to be the best educator and learner possible for children.”
During the May recognition ceremony, Philip Cleveland, the interim state superintendent of education, thanked all of the “Sweet 16” finalists for state Teacher of the Year.
“The commitment and dedication of our educators in this state is unbelievable,” Cleveland said. “It’s amazing that people choose to go into a profession and they obviously go into a profession not for the money, but because of wanting to do something for someone else.”
Most of the time, the general public forgets to recognize just exactly how much hard work happens in the classroom, Cleveland said.
“I commend every educator in the state of Alabama for their commitment to the children that are so important to the future of our state,” he said.
– Cherie Olivier contributed to this article.
