Perry Middle teacher enjoys helping students succeed

Students in Perry Middle School Teacher of the Year Susan Campbell’s class sum up how they feel about their teacher with these simple words: “She loves us and she cares about us.”

Originally from Fort Valley, Campbell graduated from Peach County High School in 1986. She received her bachelor’s degree in special education with concentrations in mental retardation and learning disabilities from Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) in Americus. She later returned to GSW and earned her master’s degree. She also graduated from Columbus State University with her educational leadership specialist degree.

Campbell started teaching in Houston County in 1990 after graduating from college. This is her 26th year teaching. She has been teaching at Perry Middle for 16 years and also taught at Morningside Elementary School for eight years.

As an interrelated special education teacher at Perry Middle, she co-teaches eighth and seventh grade math and eighth grade science. She also teaches one small group math class.

Being selected as Teacher of the Year, Campbell says it was a great honor.

“It makes you feel really good that your teachers recognize the hard work that you do and that they appreciate what you’re doing for the students,” she said. “It was a big surprise to be nominated.”

Campbell said the administration at Perry Middle is great and very supportive.

“They work really hard to get you anything you need in your classroom and anything you need with your students,” she said. “I feel like I can talk to any of them about anything and they are going to support you 100 percent.”

She added, “I love working here; that’s why I’ve stayed here for 16 years. The faculty is great. They’re very easy to work with, so it makes it very easy to work here because everything flows so well.”

Why teaching?

“I kind of fell into it. It was not my first choice as a major, but once I started, I knew that’s where I wanted to be. I knew that I didn’t want to teach your average general education child. I like a challenge. So, I chose to teach the ones that challenge me the most. I have done that my whole teaching career. I like the kids. I like seeing them get it. I like seeing them feel successful in the general education curriculum, and middle schoolers just have their own little quirky personalities that will make you laugh every single day. It makes me love this age. They’re going through so many changes, and they’re so open and honest at this age that it makes it a lot of fun.”

What brought you into the field?

“A sorority sister of mine was in the special education program at Georgia Southwestern and she just kept talking about how wonderful this one professor was. I thought I needed to check this out. I took my first education class and I saw what she was talking about. My two advisers and professors were just awesome. They were so good. They made you love everything about the profession. From the first class I took, I was hooked from that point on. It was just going and seeing all of the different exceptionalities and wanting to learn more about each one of them and trying to figure out ways to help these kids; it just continued on from there. It still continues to this day, trying to find new ways to help them and help them feel successful.”

Any inspiration from past teachers?

“My middle school teachers had a lot of influence on me. Middle school was just a trying age for me, and I feel like they were really patient with me all the way through middle school, which got me through it. Once I got into high school, things were a lot smoother sailing at that point. I did have a math teacher in ninth grade that was new to the system when I had her. I ended up loving her class and she ended up being the chairman of the education department at Georgia Southwestern. She’s one that sticks out, but I liked all of my teachers. I didn’t have one favorite over the other.”

Best part of teaching?

“The best part of teaching is the kids, hands down. I love getting to know my kids; I love building a relationship with my kids. I have a lot of students that come back to visit or see me out in the community. They make it fun — things they say, things they do, spending every day with them.”

What is it about teaching that you like the most?

“It would be the kids. If I could just only deal with students, that would be great.”

Most challenging part of teaching?

“The paperwork and the testing. The amount of time that takes away from my students, sometimes it bothers me because I have to do certain paperwork. I feel like I’m not giving them 100 percent of my attention because of other stuff going on.”

Anything that makes your job difficult?

“The amount of monitoring, paperwork and documentation that goes along with teaching now. There are so many legal issues now that you deal with. There are so many different aspects that come into this school. One of the biggest thing is kids that come in that don’t have support at home or what they need at home and then they come to school. You try to give them everything they need here and then you know they go home to something that they don’t have any support with. It’s all of the outside stuff involved with education that makes it hard.”

If not teaching, what?

“If I didn’t teach, I would have done something where I worked with kids. It may have been in a recreational facility or something to do with education recreation in a hospital. I like working with kids this age.”

Advice to students:

“Always try your best. If you give it 100 percent, you will be rewarded for it. Keep a good attitude and stay positive. Just know that your teachers are there to help you, and you’ve got to help yourself as well. I always encourage my kids to do their best. I always encourage them even after they leave me.”

Advice to parents:

“Always encourage your children to do their best in school. Support them. If they want to be involved, support it. The more kids are involved, the better they do. Take advantage of things that the school does to try to help them learn the curriculum. My parents are great and supportive. They do a lot for me in the class. I’ve been really lucky over the years that I’ve always had very supportive parents every year. They work with their kids at home. They want the best for them.”

Home life:

“I’ve been married for almost 27 years to my husband, David. We have two kids, Christine Campbell, 23, who graduated from Georgia Southern University (Statesboro) and is a nurse at Navicent Health in Macon, and Ben Campbell, 19, who’s in his second year at ABAC (Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton). We live way out in the country in Marshallville and have lots of dogs. I enjoy hanging out with my family.”

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