HENRY COUNTY, Va. – At Rich Acres Elementary School in Henry County, 5th-grade teacher Mrs. Ashley Adams has a palpable ‘connection’ with her students. She projects stability, caring--and the expertise to overcome any obstacle that might stand in the way of her students’ success.
“I tell them we‘re like a family, and I have high expectations for them, and we‘re all in it together, and we just try to strive to help each other out. I have a lot of good kids who help others out,” Mrs. Adams explained.
Mrs. Adams has logged two decades of service, going above and beyond the lesson plans to full support of her students in all phases of their lives.
“She doesn’t give herself enough credit where credit is due--she just goes way above and beyond for all the kids,” Rich Acres Instructional Coach Kim Dunbar said.
“I’ve seen her go to houses when they have a tragedy. I’ve seen her stay after school to help them on her own time. She started to ”Go Far Club," which was a running club for our school. We do our ‘Back to School Bash’ at the beginning of every year. That was her idea,” Dunbar continues.
“She will work with students. If she notices that one of her students is not here, she will get coverage, she‘ll walk down to the office, and she will call. She‘ll call the parent and say, ‘Hey, do you need us to come get them?“ Rich Acres Principal Crystal Dixon says.
“She really goes the extra mile, anything that her students come and tell her. She makes sure that not only their academic needs are met but but just their basic needs are met as well,” Dixon continues.
WSLS and Blue Eagle Credit Union honored Mrs. Adam and Rich Acres with the giant checks. Mrs. Adams is not one for the spotlight, but couldn’t dodge the accolades.
What gets you out of bed every day and gets you excited when you’re driving to school?
“Well, I wanna make a difference in their lives. I want them to be the best that they can be. I want them to be successful in life. I want them to be just well-rounded individuals, and making a difference in their lives is really important,” Adams explained.
Mrs. Adams said they certainly use technology to enhance learning, but she has noticed the children actually prefer to go back to pencil and paper more lately.
That is a breath of fresh air, much like she is to everyone at Rich Acres.
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