What surprised LaShonda Hurst most about winning the 2022-2023 Teacher of the Year for Lakeview Academy was that she doesn’t see herself as someone with a one-size-fits-all method for teaching, but instead prides herself on her flexibility and the way that she’s able to flow with the current of her students’ moods and learning abilities.
“When you walk in, in the morning, you’re never going to know who’s feeling the best,” she said, “or who’s not feeling the best, but it’s still a matter of giving a smile, saying good morning, and moving on with the day.” Hurst begins the year by establishing a sense of mutual trust, love, and support with her students that allows for patience and flexibility.
This year will only be Hurst’s fourth year teaching with Baldwin County, but prior to that, she worked in the same building as a teacher and case manager for GNETS (Georgia Network for Educational and Therapeutic Support), where she helped students with social and emotional disabilities adjust and learn in a productive way.
Prior to that, she worked at Macon Bibb EOC (Economic Opportunity Council) where she got her start in teaching younger children.
At Baldwin County, Hurst found the kind of flexibility that met her at her own level, “I can sense the amount of flexibility, the amount of love we have for each other. I’ve been able to learn different aspects from other teachers, consultants, and other things that Baldwin has to offer,” she said, “and Dr. (Noris) Price (BCSD Superintendent) and the school administration are making sure that those barriers of education are broken down for us. That’s been a very important part for me.”
As a native of Milledgeville, Hurst is one of a number of BCSD teachers who have come up from within the Baldwin school system. She has also attended both Central Georgia Technical College as well as Georgia Military College, two of the three prominent colleges located in Milledgeville, with an intent to teach nursing. So she understands more keenly than most what is working in Georgia’s educational system and what isn’t.
When she had her daughter, LaMeria, she began volunteering at the Early Learning Center and found that she had a remarkable aptitude for helping young minds develop. Her own ability to bend with the winds of her children's changing feelings and cognitive abilities helped them to become excellent learners, so rather than teaching nursing to adults, she began to consider teaching younger children.
“I can sense the amount of flexibility, the amount of love we have for each other. I’ve been able to learn different aspects from other teachers, consultants, and other things that Baldwin has to offer and Dr. (Noris) Price (BCSD Superintendent) and the school administration is making sure that those barriers of education are broken down for us."
“I loved to see that growth,” she said, “the growth that a lot of these students have within them, and I just felt like I’m that person to give it to them; to help support them where they needed to be supported.” Having grown up within the Baldwin school system and community, Hurst was uniquely positioned to give back in a way that she knew could be a gap-filler for the system.
“I had a good experience,” she said, “because Baldwin helped mold me into who I am today, wanting to give back, and also wanting to fill some gaps that needed to be filled.” Hurst found ways of filling gaps, not only with GNETS, but as the school’s drill team coach as well. In Baldwin’s ability to adapt and change, Hurst has found a kindred spirit.
When Hurst was a high school student at Baldwin, there were not as many options to complete high school, “Children now have so many different ways to graduate high school, whether through Foothills, online or through the CTAE program” Hurst said, “so it has really made for some great, tremendous growth in Milledgeville.”
Hurst also noted that part of being a flexible teacher is understanding that you must be a constant learner. “I am a lifelong learner,” Hurst said, “I take that very seriously, and I feel like that’s something I’ve added back to the community. I’ve been learning different things from students, and I’ve learned from some amazing teachers, and now I’m doing some of those same things with the students that I’m teaching now.”
The cycle of education demands constant adaptation to new circumstances, taking the best of what worked in the past and connecting it with new technology and thinking for the future. Understanding these things has helped Hurst to become a remarkable asset to Lakeview Academy and to the larger Baldwin County School System, and will continue to do so for as long as she’s here.
