P3 PARENT ORGANIZATION

Written by: Josie Evans

Candy Reagan, a third-grade teacher at Strong Rock Christian School, received the title of SRCS Elementary Teacher of the Year last May.  It was her third time holding a Teacher of the Year title in her nearly 25 years as an educator.  But when she sat down for an interview on a steamy August afternoon it wasn’t her accolades she wished to discuss, rather, an important message for parents.

“Make your family a priority,” she said fighting back tears. “Kids are begging to spend time with you.  They are just starved for your attention.”

Reagan said she has worked hard to create a classroom family with her students. That includes keeping a class journal where students can share their prayer requests and praise reports.  She said she has been invited to several former students’ college graduations, weddings, and baby showers.  Her past students include a present-day doctor, a major league baseball player, a chef, teachers and nurses. She wants all of her students, present and past, to know she is there for them.

“That’s one thing I see in the classroom,” she said.   "Kids just love you. It’s in them to hug you, to want to know you, know you on a personal level. They want to talk to you. They want to be in your presence.  They want to have conversation with you.”

She said it has broken her heart in the past when a parent attends a field trip with their child, only to take a phone call and never return.  She said she has also seen students getting into a parent’s car after a long day of school and Mom or Dad is too preoccupied to say hello.  She explained this disappoints a child because they are excited to tell parents about their day.  They want to interact with them after their time away during the school day.

Reagan, mom to Hannah, 19, as well as the wife of a minister, said she does not want to seem critical of parents.  She said she understands the struggles first-hand that come with juggling work, school, church, and extra-curricular responsibilities. Over the years, she and her husband made it a priority to have at least a couple of family sit-down dinners each week where their daughter could discuss the day’s highs and lows.

“It brings about great conversation,” explained Reagan.

With Reagan’s daughter, an SRCS graduate, now off to her first year of college, Reagan knows first-hand how quickly the years fly.  “Your moment is fleeting. It goes by so fast. I don’t want parents to miss those.”

Judy Johnston, SRCS Elementary Principal, selected Reagan as a Teacher of the Month during the 2023-2024 school year.  Reagan, along with the other SRCS Teachers of the Month, were then presented on a ballot to school staff, and staff voted Reagan as Elementary Teacher of the Year.  Reagan said Strong Rock’s current Teachers of the Year expect to find out in September if they have been selected as finalists for the Georgia Independent School Association (GISA) Teacher of the Year honor!