Crestline teacher Sandy Ritchey honored as alternate Alabama Elementary Teacher of the Year

Crestline Elementary School teacher Sandy Ritchey was recognized in Montgomery Wednesday night 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, including five years as a teacher at Green Valley Elementary, three years as a literacy coach at South Shades Crest Elementary and three years as an assistant principal at Gwin Elementary.

Ritchey said she was deeply humbled that she was even nominated for Teacher of the Year by the faculty at Crestline.

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.

The 2015-16 Alabama Teacher of the Year, Vestavia Hills High School science teacher Jennifer Brown, told the Sweet 16 teachers she knows how much work they put in between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., plus the after-school coaching and sponsoring of academic and extra-curricular groups, not to mention their night-time job of grading papers and calling and emailing parents.

She said she has visited about 80 Alabama schools in the past year and it was the most rewarding, enriching and eye-opening experience of her life.

“We have so many amazing teachers in our state,” Brown said. “I wish everybody had the opportunity to visit the schools and see the amazing work happening in our classrooms.”

Brown challenged all educators to share the stories of what’s happening in their schools with anyone who will listen, from colleagues to PTO groups, the media, elected officials and their friends and neighbors.

“Way too often, the wrong stories are shared, and those are the ones that get all the attention,” Brown said. “Our work matters. What we do on behalf of our students every day matters. As we celebrate your successes tonight, let’s commit to elevate the profession and change the narrative about public education. I’m very proud to be a teacher in Alabama.”