Meet Madison Sapp: Baldwin County School District’s 2026 Teacher of the Year

Madison Sapp didn’t always plan to become a teacher.

In fact, when she first started college, she thought she might go into nursing. She knew she wanted a career centered on helping people, but the medical field didn’t quite fit. Teaching, though, was already part of her story.

Sapp’s grandmother was an English language arts teacher and, later, a librarian in Warner Robins. She continued substitute teaching well into her 80s, and Sapp grew up hearing her stories and watching the example she set.

“She taught me a lot about being kind and helping others when they need it,” Sapp said.

Still, it took a room full of toddlers to help Sapp see that she might be following in her grandmother’s footsteps.

 

 

 

 

 

Finding Her Place in the Classroom

Originally from Warner Robins, Sapp came to Milledgeville for college after touring several universities. Georgia College’s smaller, more personal atmosphere won her over. As she got to know Milledgeville beyond the college campus, she discovered another side of the community, too.

Teaching in Baldwin County, she said, has taught her much more than how to break down a standard or manage a classroom. It has taught her “empathy and patience and humility.”

“We have a lot here that people don’t realize,” Sapp said. “This community is just really amazing and has a lot of potential.” That connection is part of what has kept her here, even as family members back home have encouraged her to return to Warner Robins.“The work here is so much more rewarding,” she said. “I feel like I make more of a difference here.”

Watching Midway Grow

After six years at Midway Hills, Sapp has also had a front-row seat to the school’s growth.

She has taught siblings from the same families. She has watched Midway expand its role as a community school and welcome greater family and community involvement. And she has seen perceptions begin to change as the school has demonstrated academic and behavioral growth while building a faculty where teachers want to stay and new educators want to work. This year, Sapp has been on the front lines as Midway Academy and Midway Primary have re-combined back into its original K-5 Elementary school. 

For Sapp, that sense of community is one of the things that makes teaching in Baldwin County different.

There is an old saying that it takes a village to raise a child. Sapp has her own addition.

“In Milledgeville, you can’t just want to be a part of the village,” she said. “You have to be a villager, too.”

At Midway Hills, she sees those villagers everywhere: teachers, administrators, counselors, families and community partners working together to support students.

And Sapp has found plenty of ways to be one herself.

Learning Beyond the Classroom

Last year, Sapp added another role to her math and science duties: chorus teacher.

It brought her back to something she loved as a student herself. Growing up, Sapp participated in music and theater, and the new role gave her a chance to share that love with her students.

For a teacher who believes education is as much about helping students become thoughtful people as it is mastering academic content, it was the kind of lesson no worksheet could replicate.

 

“I Belong in the Classroom”

Being selected as Midway Hills Academy’s Teacher of the Year came as a surprise to Sapp, especially because she is quick to point toward the talented educators around her.

She was so surprised, in fact, that when she first told her mother she had been nominated, her mother immediately asked how she could vote.

There was, unfortunately for Mom, no family voting bloc.

For Sapp, though, the recognition means something bigger than an award. It means the colleagues she respects trusted her to represent the school they share. And as she looks ahead, she doesn’t picture herself moving farther away from students. Quite the opposite.

“I can’t imagine ever going into anything other than teaching my own classroom,” Sapp said. “I belong in the classroom.”

Whether she is teaching math and science, working with a small group, directing chorus or hearing from a former fourth grader who just made it to high school, that is where Sapp has found her place.

Six years ago, she chose Baldwin County to begin her teaching career.

Congratulations to Madison Sapp, Midway Hills Academy’s 2026 Teacher of the Year!