Ms. Kayla Tharp was recently honored as the Decatur County District Teacher of the Month for March after being selected as the Decatur County Middle School Teacher of the Month. We recently sat down with Ms. Kayla to discuss her background, educational philosophy, and why she chooses Decatur County.
“I graduated from Riverside High School in 2009. I attended Bethel University and graduated in 2014 with a Bachelor’s Degree in K-6 Child Learning and Development, and I have a 6-12 English endorsement. I am currently in my 10th year as an educator. I began my teaching career at Clarksburg School where I taught Kindergarten, 3rd, and 4th grade. I have been teaching 7th grade ELA at DCMS for the last four years.”
When asked about her philosophy of education, “My teaching philosophy has always been that students are capable of succeeding when they feel safe and loved in a well-structured classroom. I try to be as encouraging as I can be for my students. I am always pushing them to do their very best not for me, but for themselves. I want them to begin to take ownership of their learning. 7th grade can be a tough year for most kids not only academically but emotionally as well, so striving to give them support and encouragement is so important to me.”
When asked about the most challenging and most rewarding aspects of education she said, “My favorite part of being a teacher is watching my students succeed both in and out of the classroom. I believe in setting high expectations for all of my students, and I love watching them get excited when they finally accomplish a hard skill or make a good grade on something they worked really hard at. But I also love when they are excelling in their extracurricular activities like band, cheer, football, etc. The most challenging part of being an educator today is keeping the students engaged in their learning. ELA is usually a students least favorite subject, especially for those who hate reading, but I do my best to make it fun and enjoyable.”
We asked Ms. Tharp why she chose Decatur County and she replied, “I chose to come back home to Decatur County to teach because I had so many wonderful teachers growing up, and I hope to be half the teacher they were to me to my own students. My grandmother Evelyn Tharp taught at Riverside for many years, and she has played a huge role in molding me into the teacher that I am today. I feel like teaching is a small way of giving back to my community.”
Ms. Kayla is a phenomenal teacher and mentor to the young people of Decatur County and we are forever thankful that she chose to stay at home educating the next generation of Decatur Countians.