Tennessee Education Lottery Educator of the Week: Hailey Eldridge
JACKSON, Tenn. — This week’s Educator of the Week presented by the Tennessee Education Lottery teaches right here in the Hub City.
Hailey Eldridge comes from a long line of teachers within her family.
“There’s so many rewarding things to being a teacher,” Eldridge said. “Every day is a new experience.”
She says her family’s influence led her to her career.
“When I was growing up, that’s all I knew,” Eldridge said. “It’s what my family did. It’s what my mom did. And so, she was a wonderful teacher to my eyes, so I wanted to be just like her.”
Eldridge has been an educator for the last 18 years, with most of those years spent teaching kindergarten here at University School of Jackson.
“I truly believe teaching is one of the most rewarding jobs,” Eldridge said. “And so you know a lot of times when school’s out or you have a snow break or something, I want to get back.”
Her teaching style with her students includes many activities and games to help with educational growth during their first years of school.
“There’s never been a day I haven’t loved teaching, but you do want to encourage everybody to be their own teacher,” she said.
Eldridge says it can be hard to try and meet the needs of every child.
“That would be the struggle for any new teacher, but it just comes,” Eldridge said. “Once you know the children, know what they need and how to help those specific children, then you’re ready to go.”
She says she loves coming in every morning and seeing the happiness on their faces.
“They want to be right beside you,” Eldridge said. “Then, at the end of the day when you’re having your class meeting and they say ‘oh Ms. Hailey, I love coming to your class, this is what I learned today, this is what my favorite part of the day was,’ then that’s when I know, OK, it was a good day at school.”
Starting in March, o vote for Eldridge or any of the other nominees, visit www.seehowitaddsup.com.
To nominate a teacher for our weekly award, email us at educator@wbbjtv.com.
