COE Grad Student One of AJC's
Top 4 Honor Teachers for 1999
 

A 29-year-old Gwinnett County middle school teacher who is working on her master's degree at UGA's College of Education was honored Thursday night by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as one of the metro area's four Honor Teachers for 1999.

The four, including two from Douglas County, were chosen from among 12 finalists from the metro area for their innovative teaching methods and their passion for their profession.

Vicki Husby, who teaches at Gwinnett's J.E. Richards Middle School, won for grades 6-8. Husby teaches at-risk students with large doses of love and attention, calling them "honey," and "sweetheart" and telling them they light up her day.

With four years' teaching experience, Husby is the youngest of the honorees and has taught the fewest years.

Husby is working on a master's in special education and administration at the COE. She received her bachelor's degree in elementary education with middle school and Spanish endorsements from the University of Alabama.

"Flexibility," is the most important quality a teacher can have, says Husby. "Flexibility on all levels: professionally, personally. The willingness to change the curriculum, the willingness to be a different person with different students. The willingness to change as the demands in the classroom change."

And what is the best advice she ever received about being a good teacher? "Don't try to reinvent the wheel. Find out what other people are doing that is good and then build from there," she says.