More to the Story with Staley: Retiring Lafayette Teacher
LAFAYETTE, Ga. (WDEF) — 41 years is a mighty long time. And 41 years is what was celebrated this week at Lafayette High School, as one of the ‘school’s finest’ moves on to the next chapter of her life.
The balloons and signs were in place. So was all the food. It was a surprise celebration in the library at Lafayette High School.
64-year-old Pam Wright didn’t know about it.
It included friends, staff and family members gathered to send Pam off to life’s next chapter.
After 41 years as a teacher, including 36 and a half at this high school, Pam is moving on. It’s called retirement.
Pam Wright was the science teacher at Lafayette High School.
“She makes it a point to form relationships with her students. That’s so, very important,” Assistant Principal Lugenia Suttles said. “Some students come back and tell her how important that relationship is.”
Lugenia Suttles is the school’s assistant principal, and she’s Wright’s younger sister. Suttles is the one who organized all of this.
She knows the obstacles her sister had to overcome. For Wright not only lost her husband in 2019, but faced the most serious of a cancer diagnosis ten years ago.
Through it all, Pam Wright never waivered.
“I was stage four. Six months to live. I would do chemo on Thursdays and Fridays. And then recover on Saturdays and Sundays. Then teach Monday through Wednesday,” Wright said. ” I would do that and encourage the kids to come to school.”
“She fought through and persevered,” Suttles said. “She fought hard to get back to school. She fought through losing her husband in 2019. But we’ve bonded together as a family.”
Pam says she’ll now spend a lot of time with her family. But also remain loyal to this school and the kids. It’s what keeps her going.
“That’s what made me get up in the mornings,” Wright continued. “Even when I went through the cancer battle, I always contacted the school. I wanted to see how things were going. I wanted to encourage a child to be prosperous.”
Pam Wright! A perfect example of a survivor. Pam says she’s retiring, but certainly not stopping.
