Golden Apple Award: Susan Royal, Fairyland Elementary School
Lookout Mountain, GA (WDEF) – Susan Royal has a heart for service and gift for teaching. She’s been in the classroom for more than 25 years, and a generation of students is much better for it.
Dr. Lisa Edwards is the Principal at Fairyland Elementary.
She says, “Ms. Royal is a second grade teacher. This is her 26th year in education. She is an exceptional teacher and a leader at our school. She actively engages her students regardless of the content.”
When asked to describe herself, Ms. Royal says, “Susan Royal is a teacher, a mother, a wife, a friend, a colleague, a coworker, a servant. I have not always wanted to be a teacher. Growing up I thought I wanted to be a nurse. I knew that I wanted to serve in some aspect of my life. And I started out in Sunday school teaching Sunday school, and it was just a calling for me.
Second grader Yva Izossimova adds, “She always makes it fun, because she makes sight words, and they tell about the picture how they look like, and then, if they don’t know. the other people tell it.
Ms. Royal concludes, “I love being around kids. I like to inspire children. I had a wonderful mentor teacher Linda Femister from Chattanooga Valley Elementary School. She would always say to me, ‘You should be a teacher. You need to be receiving the pay for the gifts that you have.’ It just comes natural. It’s just that the children being able to make a difference, and not so much just with academics, but just with their emotional well-being; just being a friend, building relationships with the students, being their biggest cheerleader, letting them know that it’s okay to make mistakes. We’re all in this world, and we’re traveling the road, and we’re learning. We’re making mistakes, and we just want to keep on going and become better each day.
