December 3, 2025 • 17 mins
This episode features an enlightening dialogue with Ms. Amanda Dillard, the District Teacher of the Year for Cobb County, who shares invaluable insights regarding today's educational landscape. Ms. Dillard, a special education instructor and esports coach at Pope High School, explains the paramount importance of fostering robust relationships with students, emphasizing that today's learners require not only academic instruction but also emotional support and understanding. She reflects on her own journey into teaching, initially resistant to the profession due to her upbringing, yet ultimately discovering a profound passion for engaging with students and nurturing their growth. Furthermore, Ms. Dillard advocates for the necessity of parental involvement in education, encouraging parents to maintain open lines of communication with teachers. This discussion serves as a poignant reminder of the multifaceted role educators play in shaping the lives of their students, transcending mere academic responsibilities to encompass emotional and social development.
Guest:
Amanda Dillard
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Takeaways:
- In our latest episode, we explored the inspiring journey of Ms. Amanda Dillard, the Teacher of the Year in Cobb, who epitomizes dedication in education.
- Ms. Dillard emphasized the paramount importance of building relationships with students, fostering an environment of support and understanding.
- The discussion highlighted the challenges educators face today, particularly in addressing students' mental health alongside academic demands.
- We learned that the recognition of Ms. Dillard serves not only as a personal achievement but also as a voice for all dedicated educators in Cobb County.
- The conversation delved into the significance of parental involvement in education, urging parents to connect positively with teachers beyond times of crisis.
- Lastly, Ms. Dillard articulated a profound belief that education should prioritize the learning process over mere grades, advocating for a holistic approach to student development.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Cobb's teacher of the Yearshares some practical, inspiring
insights you'll want to heartoday on the Inside Scoop. Welcome
to the Inside Scoop. Before wejump in, take a moment to, like,
subscribe and share thisepisode so more families can stay
connected. And remember, youcan watch us on YouTube or listen
(00:21):
on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,iHeart, or wherever you get your
podcasts. With about 9,000teachers working in Cobb, one of
them rose to the top to becomethis year's district teacher of the
year, Ms. Amanda Dillard.Amanda, welcome to the podcast.
Hi. Thank you for having me.
So you are a teacher, aspecial ed teacher at Pope High School?
(00:42):
Yes, I am.
And I also heard a rumor thatyou are an esports coach.
I am. I'm the esports coach as well.
Okay. That's a whole otherpodcast. Yeah.
Oh, that would be a fun one.
Okay, so now that gets intothe debate of esports. Is marching
band a sport? But again, absolutely.
They have 12 hour practices.
Okay. So one thing that peoplewho may have attended your handprint
(01:07):
ceremony on the squareprobably heard you say is you made
the statement something alongthe lines of, I didn't always want
to be a teacher, but I becamea teacher. And my story is about
why I want to stay. Can youkind of tell us what's what? What
(01:28):
is your story?
Yeah, so I. My part of thatspeech as well is my mother was a
teacher or is a teacher. And Iwould get super annoyed because I
was at school all the time andI'm like, I'll never be a teacher.
Like, I don't want to be atschool all the time. I'm not going
to do that to my kids. And Iactually went into college looking
to be a geneticist. I just,you know, had this idea in my head,
(01:51):
I'm like, that's what I'mgoing to do.
Just a light science.
Yeah, something easy.
Genetics.
Yeah, just a little bit dabbleof science. And once I kind of got
into it, I was like, you knowwhat? I don't really enjoy this type
of science. I don't enjoybeing in a lab. I like to talk with
people. I like to help people,be around people, get to know people.
And so my mom, she kind ofnudged me. She was like, well, do
(02:14):
you want to try teaching?Would you be interested in teaching?
And so I did some classroomobservations and things like that
and decided that, yeah, I'llgive it a try. And then once I really
got into it, especially withspudge special education, you really
get to know the students aspeople. And you get to love them
(02:35):
as people. And I just growingon those relationships, really, it
made me love it. It made melove being a teacher.
Well, there's no doubt ifyou're a teacher, you are definitely.
You're in a people world forsure. So what is it that you think
today's students need? I mean,first of all, I think you kind of
(02:59):
touched on the relationshipaspect. Right? That's huge in your
world. So what do you thinktoday's students need from their
teachers and their schools forthat matter?
So today's students and intoday's society, I think there's
a lot of pressure placed onkids. People don't realize the amount
of pressure they're under andthat they feel. And so I do think
(03:19):
that the relationship is firstand foremost in the classroom. Getting
to know them, what are theyinterested in? Yes, we're going to
also learn about math, but Iwant to know about you as a person.
Maybe you're not going to usemath when you grow up. That's the
number one thing I hear inhigh school. When am I going to use
this? I get to know them andwe do usually find a way that they
might use math. But I thinkwhat they need is really support,
(03:42):
recognizing that they're notmachines, they're kids, they're people.
And if you think about it,we're asking them to juggle math,
English, science, history,electives, a foreign language. It's
a lot that even adults wouldfeel a lot of pressure doing to dabble
in all of those differentthings and be successful. So I think
the biggest thing they needfrom us is understanding and support
(04:04):
in their adventures.
Yeah, well, I mean, every oneof those is a huge challenge. And
some, I'm sure, more for somestudents than others, but. So today's
device driven world, socialmedia and all that, how do you keep
(04:25):
them focused and engagedrather than being tempted to get
on their phones? I'm surethat's a battle, right? I mean, always.
But obviously you are teacherof the year for a reason. And I'm
guessing that has something todo with how the students perform
in your classes, howsuccessful they are. What's your
(04:46):
secret sauce? How are youkeeping them engaged?
So as far as engagement goes,I like to embrace things. So, you
know, social media is outthere, trends are out there. I embrace
things like 6, 7. It comes upa lot in math and so I just get ready
for it every time I get it killing.
Half of the audience right there.
So I think just embracingthings that they find fun and yes,
(05:10):
you Know, it might get alittle bit annoying sometimes, but
I still try to embrace the funbecause that's what keeps them engaged,
is establishing thatrelationship with them. They know
you care. Establishing that,hey, it's okay, we can have a little
bit of fun in math. But nowlet's get back to business and just
acknowledging that thosedistractions are there and talking
with them through thosethings, because those distractions
(05:32):
are not going to go away. Evenadults struggle with technology and
distractions of technology.And so just talking with them about
responsible use and helpingthem learn to navigate technology
today.
So not ignoring thedistraction, but learning how to
cope with it, how to deal with it.
Exactly. Learning a healthy balance.
So just for those of you whomay not have been at the ceremony
(05:53):
at the Strand on the Square,she worked in, just at the very beginning,
a, what was it you said?Students. She had pretty good sized
class representation there.Students, don't worry about this.
The speech is only going to beabout six, seven minutes long. And
they caught that and wentnuts, right?
(06:14):
Yes, yes.
Because you were identifying,you were calling them out and showing
them that you appreciatedtheir being there.
I do, yeah.
So what do you think? What doyou wish more parents knew about
how learning happens in theclassroom? I mean, as parents who
are not in the classroom, youknow, it's kind of a mystery area.
(06:36):
We have an idea of what basedon what we experienced. Right. But
today's classroom is verydifferent. What do you wish they
knew about your classroom today?
I think one of the things thatI want parents to know is that it's
not all about grades. Gradesare huge, grades are important, but
everything is not gradedriven. It's really more about the
(06:58):
process. So, you know, hey,did you fail something? Yes. You
did. However, are we in theprocess of learning it? Yes. So I
think parents, they oftentimesjust see, you know, a C came in and
they're like, oh my goodness,you made a C. What's happening? But
what's actually happening inthe classroom is that we are working
behind the scenes, we'reremediating, we're going over those
(07:21):
things. It's a process. And sowe need to celebrate the process
and the work that's going inwith the students and the work that
they're putting in. Maybesometimes more than we celebrate
the grade. Again, not sayingthat grades aren't important, because
they are. But I think a lot oftimes parents, they only really have
access to the grades and sothey don't get to see how hard their
(07:41):
student is working on thatprocess of Learning. And so just
making sure they'recelebrating how hard kids are working
in the.
Classroom in between advances.And you actually brought to my memory
an experience I had with oneof our old teachers. We saw her,
she seemed like 100 at thetime, but she was probably 30. And
(08:04):
one of the things that shetold our class on day one was, I'm
going to teach you how tofail. And what she meant by that
was, she's going to teach usresiliency. Right. So it sounds to
me like that's kind of your heart.
It is, yes. Yes.
Okay. So what is a challengethat teachers face that kind of goes
overlooked by parents orsociety in general?
(08:28):
I think one of the challengesis just a balance. Teachers finding
a balance. In today's world,we have a lot of things now that
have come to light withstudent mental health. And so it's
beyond academics now. I kindof think of all of us as sort of
counselors as well. So, youknow, yes, I'm a special ed teacher.
(08:49):
I go in to help with mathclassrooms, But I'm not only teaching
math. We're also teachingthose social emotional skills. We're
helping them cope with anddeal with social situations. So I
think that's something that'snot always seen. You know, they think,
hey, you're the math teacher.You teach math, Right? No. We're
also responsible for helpingthem with those social emotional
(09:12):
things and helping withstudent mental health.
Now, what's interesting to mein this conversation, my mind has
gravitated toward a general edclassroom. You're a special ed teacher,
and so there's even more of aneed to emphasize those things. Right.
So I just want to call that toyour attention viewer, because it's
(09:36):
not as straightforward as itmight be in a general ed. You've
got to go the extra mile, theextra, extra mile to help your students.
And I am an interrelatedteacher. So we are in a general education,
education classroom still. Andso it's an inclusive setting. And
I think what's reallybeautiful about the inclusive setting
especially is that, you know,yes, we have kids in there that have
(09:58):
disabilities, but you wouldnever walk in and be like, hey, you've
got adhd, you have autism, youhave a learning disability. You don't
know that. And that's where wereally work on that inclusivity.
We work on that social,emotional piece to where everybody
feels accepted and seen. And Iactually have kids sometimes that
don't have an IEP that come tome and say, hey, how do I get an
(10:20):
iep? You can't just get thatbecause the.
Support is so good.
It's become. I love it becauseit's become such an accepted thing.
It's not this stigma anymore.It's really a culture of acceptance
in the classroom. And again,when you walk in, I'm not only helping
(10:40):
these certain particularstudents, I'm helping everybody.
And so all the kids arecomfortable with going either to
myself or to my sharedteacher. I think that's just one
of the really beautiful thingsabout the inclusive settings.
Yeah. Yeah, it's definitely apositive. So being elevated to the
position of teacher of theyear for the entire district, that's
(11:00):
got to be really, maybe alittle intimidating. Right? What
do you hope that yourrecognition does for Cobb teachers
in general? How do you hope orwhat do you hope your recognition
does to help people understandand see Cobb classrooms in the right
(11:24):
light?
So I don't view it as just myrecognition. I keep telling people,
I'm like, it's not just myrecognition. There are hundreds and
thousands of teachers thatwork in Cobb county that are just
as deserving of this type ofrecognition. I'm excited to be able
to offer a voice to all ofthose teachers this year. I'm excited
that I was the personnominated them. But I think that
(11:48):
my main drive this year isjust to help people see teachers,
especially as a specialeducation teacher, see the things
that we're doing for students.And again, we just have. We have
so many an overwhelming amountof amazing educators in Cobb County.
So I'm happy to be a voice forthem. But, yes, it's not. I don't
feel like it's my recognition.I just. Again, I'm happy and lucky
(12:10):
to have been chosen this year,but it could have been hundreds of
other teachers.
We do have a lot of greatteachers and employees in general.
But I think, number one, itspeaks well. Humility is a great
teacher. And number two,that's a very good point. You're
not elevated because you'rethe best of all of them. You're elevated
(12:32):
because you represent them well.
Yes. And I want to say, too,I've learned from so many teachers
in Cobb County. So that'sanother way I feel like I'm representing
them. I am a product oflearning from my colleagues, learning
from other teachers along theway. So we're all together, represented.
They can all come ride in mycar anytime. Anytime they want to
(12:53):
come. Drive the car. Come on.
Okay. All right. That'sanother question I didn't think about.
So what car did you end up winning?
I Got the Kia Telluride leasefor the year.
That's cool.
Yes. It's very fancy.
It's very nice. Yes. So Idon't know if it's okay. So just
in case you're not aware, theteacher of the year for each level
(13:15):
actually. Right. Receives afree lease of a car from Ed Boyle's
dealership. Either Jeep. Kia, Honda.
I'm going to say Hyundai.
Hyundai. Okay. Yeah. And foran entire year, free.
Yes. Plus insurance.
Well, that was the thing thatgot me. Because I'm paying ten grand
(13:36):
a year with teenagers in thehouse for insurance, I'm going, what's
the better deal? The lease orthe insurance? But it's both.
It is. It's both. Both.
That is fantastic.
Yes. We're very fortunate. Tohave that opportunity. To be recognized
like that in the community, Ithink has been amazing. So all of
us, I know, are very thankfulfor that opportunity.
(13:56):
Yeah, for sure. If they wantto, you know, like, give a car to
podcasters, I wouldn't beagainst that or just pay for my insurance.
So if every parent listeningor every listener comes away from
this podcast with one actionin mind, what would that action be?
(14:17):
What would you like them to doas a result of hearing you on this
podcast?
I would love to encourageparents to reach out to the teacher,
not just in times of need, butalso during positive times, because
it's just as important toestablish the relationship with parents
as it is with students. So wework hard to establish a relationship
(14:40):
with all of our students, butwe would also like to have that relationship
with parents so that we'reworking closely together with them.
So I would encourage you to,you know, just reach out, email the
teacher, say hello, even if.Again, even if you're not having
any kind of issues, a nicelittle email, hey, so and so really
loves your class, or hey,thank you. You know, math's not so
and so's favorite. However, weappreciate all the work you're putting
(15:02):
in this year. I actually printand save emails sometimes that are
nice. It's very meaningful.
There are hard days, right?There are. And if you can draw on
one of those emails to helpyou out of that down mood in that
moment, that's certainly a plus.
Yeah. And we also, it's, youknow, even during times of needs,
(15:23):
like, we want to help thestudents, that is our main drive.
We don't want to see anybodyfail. We want to help them. So if
there's something that youfeel like your student needs extra
support for, if you guys aregoing through something at home,
that you need extra supportwith and it might be impacting your
student at school. You know,reach out to us, Let us know. Just
(15:44):
give us a heads up like we, wewill bend over backwards. I would
guess that 100% of ourteachers in Cobb county are willing
to go the extra mile to helpstudents be successful. If you just
reach out and let us know.
And this time of year, I'msure toward the end of the semester,
as much as as muchencouragement as you could give a
(16:04):
teacher is probably well placed.
It is.
Okay, so one last question foryou. What's the one thing about you
that your students don't knowthat they would be surprised to learn
about you?
I can rap the whole Ice IceBaby song by Vanilla Ice.
Take it away.
(16:25):
Let me get a beat.
Mike, can you make thathappen? You can wrap the entire Ice
Ice Baby.
I can.
Okay.
I can.
Okay. Well, we.
That is our next podcast.
Okay, well, we will set up awhole other episode just for that.
It may show up on social. Younever know. That's an option. Well,
Amanda, thank you so much forcoming in and thank you for joining
(16:47):
us on the Inside Scoop. If youenjoyed today's conversation, make
sure you, like, subscribe andshare so others can stay connected.
And as always, thank you forlistening to this edition of the
Inside Scoop, a podcastproduced by the Cobb County School
District.
Cobb's teacher of the Yearshares some practical, inspiring
insights you'll want to heartoday on the Inside Scoop. Welcome
to the Inside Scoop. Before wejump in, take a moment to, like,
subscribe and share thisepisode so more families can stay
connected. And remember, youcan watch us on YouTube or listen
(00:21):
on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,iHeart, or wherever you get your
podcasts. With about 9,000teachers working in Cobb, one of
them rose to the top to becomethis year's district teacher of the
year, Ms. Amanda Dillard.Amanda, welcome to the podcast.
Hi. Thank you for having me.
So you are a teacher, aspecial ed teacher at Pope High School?
(00:42):
Yes, I am.
And I also heard a rumor thatyou are an esports coach.
I am. I'm the esports coach as well.
Okay. That's a whole otherpodcast. Yeah.
Oh, that would be a fun one.
Okay, so now that gets intothe debate of esports. Is marching
band a sport? But again, absolutely.
They have 12 hour practices.
Okay. So one thing that peoplewho may have attended your handprint
(01:07):
ceremony on the squareprobably heard you say is you made
the statement something alongthe lines of, I didn't always want
to be a teacher, but I becamea teacher. And my story is about
why I want to stay. Can youkind of tell us what's what? What
(01:28):
is your story?
Yeah, so I. My part of thatspeech as well is my mother was a
teacher or is a teacher. And Iwould get super annoyed because I
was at school all the time andI'm like, I'll never be a teacher.
Like, I don't want to be atschool all the time. I'm not going
to do that to my kids. And Iactually went into college looking
to be a geneticist. I just,you know, had this idea in my head,
(01:51):
I'm like, that's what I'mgoing to do.
Just a light science.
Yeah, something easy.
Genetics.
Yeah, just a little bit dabbleof science. And once I kind of got
into it, I was like, you knowwhat? I don't really enjoy this type
of science. I don't enjoybeing in a lab. I like to talk with
people. I like to help people,be around people, get to know people.
And so my mom, she kind ofnudged me. She was like, well, do
(02:14):
you want to try teaching?Would you be interested in teaching?
And so I did some classroomobservations and things like that
and decided that, yeah, I'llgive it a try. And then once I really
got into it, especially withspudge special education, you really
get to know the students aspeople. And you get to love them
(02:35):
as people. And I just growingon those relationships, really, it
made me love it. It made melove being a teacher.
Well, there's no doubt ifyou're a teacher, you are definitely.
You're in a people world forsure. So what is it that you think
today's students need? I mean,first of all, I think you kind of
(02:59):
touched on the relationshipaspect. Right? That's huge in your
world. So what do you thinktoday's students need from their
teachers and their schools forthat matter?
So today's students and intoday's society, I think there's
a lot of pressure placed onkids. People don't realize the amount
of pressure they're under andthat they feel. And so I do think
(03:19):
that the relationship is firstand foremost in the classroom. Getting
to know them, what are theyinterested in? Yes, we're going to
also learn about math, but Iwant to know about you as a person.
Maybe you're not going to usemath when you grow up. That's the
number one thing I hear inhigh school. When am I going to use
this? I get to know them andwe do usually find a way that they
might use math. But I thinkwhat they need is really support,
(03:42):
recognizing that they're notmachines, they're kids, they're people.
And if you think about it,we're asking them to juggle math,
English, science, history,electives, a foreign language. It's
a lot that even adults wouldfeel a lot of pressure doing to dabble
in all of those differentthings and be successful. So I think
the biggest thing they needfrom us is understanding and support
(04:04):
in their adventures.
Yeah, well, I mean, every oneof those is a huge challenge. And
some, I'm sure, more for somestudents than others, but. So today's
device driven world, socialmedia and all that, how do you keep
(04:25):
them focused and engagedrather than being tempted to get
on their phones? I'm surethat's a battle, right? I mean, always.
But obviously you are teacherof the year for a reason. And I'm
guessing that has something todo with how the students perform
in your classes, howsuccessful they are. What's your
(04:46):
secret sauce? How are youkeeping them engaged?
So as far as engagement goes,I like to embrace things. So, you
know, social media is outthere, trends are out there. I embrace
things like 6, 7. It comes upa lot in math and so I just get ready
for it every time I get it killing.
Half of the audience right there.
So I think just embracingthings that they find fun and yes,
(05:10):
you Know, it might get alittle bit annoying sometimes, but
I still try to embrace the funbecause that's what keeps them engaged,
is establishing thatrelationship with them. They know
you care. Establishing that,hey, it's okay, we can have a little
bit of fun in math. But nowlet's get back to business and just
acknowledging that thosedistractions are there and talking
with them through thosethings, because those distractions
(05:32):
are not going to go away. Evenadults struggle with technology and
distractions of technology.And so just talking with them about
responsible use and helpingthem learn to navigate technology
today.
So not ignoring thedistraction, but learning how to
cope with it, how to deal with it.
Exactly. Learning a healthy balance.
So just for those of you whomay not have been at the ceremony
(05:53):
at the Strand on the Square,she worked in, just at the very beginning,
a, what was it you said?Students. She had pretty good sized
class representation there.Students, don't worry about this.
The speech is only going to beabout six, seven minutes long. And
they caught that and wentnuts, right?
(06:14):
Yes, yes.
Because you were identifying,you were calling them out and showing
them that you appreciatedtheir being there.
I do, yeah.
So what do you think? What doyou wish more parents knew about
how learning happens in theclassroom? I mean, as parents who
are not in the classroom, youknow, it's kind of a mystery area.
(06:36):
We have an idea of what basedon what we experienced. Right. But
today's classroom is verydifferent. What do you wish they
knew about your classroom today?
I think one of the things thatI want parents to know is that it's
not all about grades. Gradesare huge, grades are important, but
everything is not gradedriven. It's really more about the
(06:58):
process. So, you know, hey,did you fail something? Yes. You
did. However, are we in theprocess of learning it? Yes. So I
think parents, they oftentimesjust see, you know, a C came in and
they're like, oh my goodness,you made a C. What's happening? But
what's actually happening inthe classroom is that we are working
behind the scenes, we'reremediating, we're going over those
(07:21):
things. It's a process. And sowe need to celebrate the process
and the work that's going inwith the students and the work that
they're putting in. Maybesometimes more than we celebrate
the grade. Again, not sayingthat grades aren't important, because
they are. But I think a lot oftimes parents, they only really have
access to the grades and sothey don't get to see how hard their
(07:41):
student is working on thatprocess of Learning. And so just
making sure they'recelebrating how hard kids are working
in the.
Classroom in between advances.And you actually brought to my memory
an experience I had with oneof our old teachers. We saw her,
she seemed like 100 at thetime, but she was probably 30. And
(08:04):
one of the things that shetold our class on day one was, I'm
going to teach you how tofail. And what she meant by that
was, she's going to teach usresiliency. Right. So it sounds to
me like that's kind of your heart.
It is, yes. Yes.
Okay. So what is a challengethat teachers face that kind of goes
overlooked by parents orsociety in general?
(08:28):
I think one of the challengesis just a balance. Teachers finding
a balance. In today's world,we have a lot of things now that
have come to light withstudent mental health. And so it's
beyond academics now. I kindof think of all of us as sort of
counselors as well. So, youknow, yes, I'm a special ed teacher.
(08:49):
I go in to help with mathclassrooms, But I'm not only teaching
math. We're also teachingthose social emotional skills. We're
helping them cope with anddeal with social situations. So I
think that's something that'snot always seen. You know, they think,
hey, you're the math teacher.You teach math, Right? No. We're
also responsible for helpingthem with those social emotional
(09:12):
things and helping withstudent mental health.
Now, what's interesting to mein this conversation, my mind has
gravitated toward a general edclassroom. You're a special ed teacher,
and so there's even more of aneed to emphasize those things. Right.
So I just want to call that toyour attention viewer, because it's
(09:36):
not as straightforward as itmight be in a general ed. You've
got to go the extra mile, theextra, extra mile to help your students.
And I am an interrelatedteacher. So we are in a general education,
education classroom still. Andso it's an inclusive setting. And
I think what's reallybeautiful about the inclusive setting
especially is that, you know,yes, we have kids in there that have
(09:58):
disabilities, but you wouldnever walk in and be like, hey, you've
got adhd, you have autism, youhave a learning disability. You don't
know that. And that's where wereally work on that inclusivity.
We work on that social,emotional piece to where everybody
feels accepted and seen. And Iactually have kids sometimes that
don't have an IEP that come tome and say, hey, how do I get an
(10:20):
iep? You can't just get thatbecause the.
Support is so good.
It's become. I love it becauseit's become such an accepted thing.
It's not this stigma anymore.It's really a culture of acceptance
in the classroom. And again,when you walk in, I'm not only helping
(10:40):
these certain particularstudents, I'm helping everybody.
And so all the kids arecomfortable with going either to
myself or to my sharedteacher. I think that's just one
of the really beautiful thingsabout the inclusive settings.
Yeah. Yeah, it's definitely apositive. So being elevated to the
position of teacher of theyear for the entire district, that's
(11:00):
got to be really, maybe alittle intimidating. Right? What
do you hope that yourrecognition does for Cobb teachers
in general? How do you hope orwhat do you hope your recognition
does to help people understandand see Cobb classrooms in the right
(11:24):
light?
So I don't view it as just myrecognition. I keep telling people,
I'm like, it's not just myrecognition. There are hundreds and
thousands of teachers thatwork in Cobb county that are just
as deserving of this type ofrecognition. I'm excited to be able
to offer a voice to all ofthose teachers this year. I'm excited
that I was the personnominated them. But I think that
(11:48):
my main drive this year isjust to help people see teachers,
especially as a specialeducation teacher, see the things
that we're doing for students.And again, we just have. We have
so many an overwhelming amountof amazing educators in Cobb County.
So I'm happy to be a voice forthem. But, yes, it's not. I don't
feel like it's my recognition.I just. Again, I'm happy and lucky
(12:10):
to have been chosen this year,but it could have been hundreds of
other teachers.
We do have a lot of greatteachers and employees in general.
But I think, number one, itspeaks well. Humility is a great
teacher. And number two,that's a very good point. You're
not elevated because you'rethe best of all of them. You're elevated
(12:32):
because you represent them well.
Yes. And I want to say, too,I've learned from so many teachers
in Cobb County. So that'sanother way I feel like I'm representing
them. I am a product oflearning from my colleagues, learning
from other teachers along theway. So we're all together, represented.
They can all come ride in mycar anytime. Anytime they want to
(12:53):
come. Drive the car. Come on.
Okay. All right. That'sanother question I didn't think about.
So what car did you end up winning?
I Got the Kia Telluride leasefor the year.
That's cool.
Yes. It's very fancy.
It's very nice. Yes. So Idon't know if it's okay. So just
in case you're not aware, theteacher of the year for each level
(13:15):
actually. Right. Receives afree lease of a car from Ed Boyle's
dealership. Either Jeep. Kia, Honda.
I'm going to say Hyundai.
Hyundai. Okay. Yeah. And foran entire year, free.
Yes. Plus insurance.
Well, that was the thing thatgot me. Because I'm paying ten grand
(13:36):
a year with teenagers in thehouse for insurance, I'm going, what's
the better deal? The lease orthe insurance? But it's both.
It is. It's both. Both.
That is fantastic.
Yes. We're very fortunate. Tohave that opportunity. To be recognized
like that in the community, Ithink has been amazing. So all of
us, I know, are very thankfulfor that opportunity.
(13:56):
Yeah, for sure. If they wantto, you know, like, give a car to
podcasters, I wouldn't beagainst that or just pay for my insurance.
So if every parent listeningor every listener comes away from
this podcast with one actionin mind, what would that action be?
(14:17):
What would you like them to doas a result of hearing you on this
podcast?
I would love to encourageparents to reach out to the teacher,
not just in times of need, butalso during positive times, because
it's just as important toestablish the relationship with parents
as it is with students. So wework hard to establish a relationship
(14:40):
with all of our students, butwe would also like to have that relationship
with parents so that we'reworking closely together with them.
So I would encourage you to,you know, just reach out, email the
teacher, say hello, even if.Again, even if you're not having
any kind of issues, a nicelittle email, hey, so and so really
loves your class, or hey,thank you. You know, math's not so
and so's favorite. However, weappreciate all the work you're putting
(15:02):
in this year. I actually printand save emails sometimes that are
nice. It's very meaningful.
There are hard days, right?There are. And if you can draw on
one of those emails to helpyou out of that down mood in that
moment, that's certainly a plus.
Yeah. And we also, it's, youknow, even during times of needs,
(15:23):
like, we want to help thestudents, that is our main drive.
We don't want to see anybodyfail. We want to help them. So if
there's something that youfeel like your student needs extra
support for, if you guys aregoing through something at home,
that you need extra supportwith and it might be impacting your
student at school. You know,reach out to us, Let us know. Just
(15:44):
give us a heads up like we, wewill bend over backwards. I would
guess that 100% of ourteachers in Cobb county are willing
to go the extra mile to helpstudents be successful. If you just
reach out and let us know.
And this time of year, I'msure toward the end of the semester,
as much as as muchencouragement as you could give a
(16:04):
teacher is probably well placed.
It is.
Okay, so one last question foryou. What's the one thing about you
that your students don't knowthat they would be surprised to learn
about you?
I can rap the whole Ice IceBaby song by Vanilla Ice.
Take it away.
(16:25):
Let me get a beat.
Mike, can you make thathappen? You can wrap the entire Ice
Ice Baby.
I can.
Okay.
I can.
Okay. Well, we.
That is our next podcast.
Okay, well, we will set up awhole other episode just for that.
It may show up on social. Younever know. That's an option. Well,
Amanda, thank you so much forcoming in and thank you for joining
(16:47):
us on the Inside Scoop. If youenjoyed today's conversation, make
sure you, like, subscribe andshare so others can stay connected.
And as always, thank you forlistening to this edition of the
Inside Scoop, a podcastproduced by the Cobb County School
District.
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