Golden Apple Award: Janet Robbins, Northwest Whitfield
TUNNEL HILL, GEORGIA (WDEF) – Janet Robbins has a knack for growing things. From the endless rows of flora lining the Northwest Whitfield greenhouse to the young minds inside her classroom, people and plants tend to flourish under Ms. Robbins watchful eye. From the fertile soil sprouts tonight’s Golden Apple Award.
“She is an amazing teacher. She does a lot of hands-on stuff and she reaches students that that are not always successful in every area. She does a plant sell and works takes them to the greenhouse. She does animal shows. She is just a staple in our building,” Mandie Jones, Principal, Northwest Whitfield High School said.
“Who is Janet Robyn?” David Moore, News 12 Chief Photographer asked.
“A person who’s been downstairs here at Northwest for 21 years, loving my kids best I can and hopefully educating them and creating the next generation of students who appreciate agriculture,” Janet Robbins, Agriculture Teacher, Northwest Whitfield high school said.
Robbins continued, “I have a daughter her name is Tristan and a stepson. His name is Alex. My mom and my brother both live with their families in Athens, Georgia. I have a brother named Erik. He lives in Germany with his girlfriend Ingrid. And I have family kind of scattered across the United States. I’m a transplant here, but I’m, Whitfield County‘s home.”
“I love my kids. That’s what I like about teaching. I like the epiphany moment. I think you’ve talked to my kids about that before that moment when I all of a sudden get it. And they’re like oh this is why it’s relevant. This is why I’m doing this. This is something I can use in the future I might not necessarily get a job job in agriculture, but I know I can apply this information to whatever. Secretly ever since I was itty-bitty, loved agriculture, and my mom was a dairyman when I was really young. And we always had an agricultural background, but I never really thought about it as an option for me. So I did want to be a teacher. A lot of my family distant their teachers, but I thought I wanted to be a veterinarian, Robbins said.
“She’ll bring in like animals a lot of times not so much fun. We have a random cow roaming around her classroom sometimes. She’s, she’s really, she’s always asking what your problems are. What’s going on at home like are you OK? Like, I can do anything for you let me know. She’s amazing. Always willing to share her snacks and everything too,” Paisley Chandler, Senior, Northwest Whitfield High School said.
“We are here to be an extended family and to try to extend the opportunities that their families are given for them so. We want to educate them and show them, hey this is available to you. But I want them to know. Hey this is available to the scholarship you could do this and you could hear this. Really we’re just an extension of their family. So when I get a letter like that, makes me realize that maybe they see me… for what I’m trying to do,” Robbins said.
