CCSD : Meet A CCSD 2021 School Teacher Of The Year: Rebecca Wooten Of Hickory Flat ES!

Press release from Cherokee County School District:

October 9, 2021

Our teachers are amazing, which is why we share the story of a school’s Teacher of the Year every week ... please help us celebrate 2021 Hickory Flat Elementary School Teacher of the Year Rebecca Wooten!

Hickory Flat Elementary School Teacher of the Year Rebecca Wooten teaches students who face significant challenges completing tasks most people take for granted.

As a teacher of children with autism, Ms. Wooten doesn’t want her students “to be pitied nor brushed aside,” but wants them to be treated like every other student.  Encouraged, respected, valued.

“They all have strengths and talents and can make the world a better place,” said Ms. Wooten, a 20-year Special Education teacher.

Ms. Wooten fosters this in her own classroom with real-world lessons and setting high expectations -- and she has engaged her whole school.  Through developing a Friends Club for Adapted PE, the first of its kind in CCSD, Ms. Wooten recruited peers to buddy up in PE classes with students with special needs.  The peer helpers model motor skills and social behaviors.  The program has expanded to engagement in other classes and recess, and it’s grown in popularity at Hickory Flat and districtwide through duplication at other CCSD schools.

“The greatest outcome of this program are the lasting friendships that are made between all students,” shared one of CCSD’s Adapted PE teachers, noting Ms. Wooten also is a dedicated supporter of Cherokee County Special Olympics.  “She is a teacher who is truly dedicated to her students.”

Ms. Wooten, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degree in her field, also is dedicated to her colleagues through sharing best practices and serving two times as president of CCSD’s chapter of the Alpha Delta Kappa teachers organization. 

In her own words: “As teachers, we have a tremendous responsibility on our shoulders. Our students look to us, not only for knowledge, but for love and acceptance.”

Special thanks to our 2021 Legacy Makers: CCSD Teachers of the Year Celebration's Presenting Sponsors: Cherokee County Educational Foundation, Credit Union of Georgia, Northside Hospital Cherokee and Shottenkirk Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Canton. 
#CCSDfam
 

This press release was produced by Cherokee County School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.