HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — A teacher in Central Georgia now has a top honor to put by her name!
The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) named its state Pre-K teachers of the year, and one of them is from Houston County.
The public school winner is Stephanie Curington from Kings Chapel Elementary School in Perry.
As a teacher of the year, she gets $3,000 for herself, $2,000 for a classroom makeover and supplies, and $2,500 to cover costs while she's out of the classroom representing Georgia's Pre-K Program.
Curington and her former student, Annahelen Gentry, discussed the honor and what makes Curington so deserving.
"It's about those relationships you build," Curington said. "When I have students who come back every day who come by specifically to stop by my classroom to be able to say hello to me or give me a hug, that's where it just it shows me this what I do everyday and why I do it."
"When we had playtime, she used to play with us," Gentry said. "She used to help me read words that I couldn't read, and those were a lot of words."
Curington says she knew she wanted to be a teacher ever since she was in the sixth grade.
Congratulations to Ms. Curington, you definitely get two gold stars for this!