Richards Middle School, home of the Titans. The school fosters a diverse set of kids and exceptional teachers. Sarah Doyle, Betsy Frye, and Janet Phillips expressed their insights about the school.
Betsy Frye has been teaching for seventeen years, all of which were spent in Gwinnett County. She is currently the seventh-grade Life Science teacher, her favorite subject even though she is certified to teach math, science, social studies, and language arts. After being asked what challenges her the most at Richards, she exclaims, “I get challenged every day as I focus on planning, grading, and making sure the kids receive a fine education.”
Sarah Doyle, the sixth-grade Social Studies teacher, has been teaching for eleven years, six months in Taiwan and the rest at Richards. Mrs. Doyle loves to teach AP World History, because she states, “It’s my thing.” However, she would love to teach any subject from AP Human Geography to AP Economics. She agrees Mrs. Frye about the difficulties that the students face. They claimed that many students have troubles with family support, finding help with their studies, and meeting expectations. Mrs. Doyle states, “Even if the intrinsic motivation was there, there is not a lot of support for that intrinsic motivation.” This can be illustrated by having a student who wants to come in for study sessions or be part of a club, but he cannot because he does not have the money or the transportation to come to school before and after regular hours.
Home life would be the principal factor when it comes to challenges. According to Mrs. Phillips, the eight-grade Social Studies teacher, and Mrs. Frye, another challenge is discipline. There are many kids who want to be successful, but they can “get lost” if the other students have discipline issues or the teacher does not enforce the rules – “When you cannot learn to your full attention, you lose a lot”.
