Words by Jenny Lynn Davis | Images by Ryan McGill

At the front of Katie Heathcock’s classroom at Carbon Hill Elementary School sits a small 4x6 photo frame. Inside the frame is a 1943 Dora Elementary School report card for Georgia Stillwell (Pridemore), Katie’s grandmother. The framed report card is in the front of the classroom for two reasons. Katie’s grandmother is a huge inspiration in her life and the card is a way to have that inspiration ever present in Katie’s work. Secondly, the card is symbolic of a chain reaction of events most would never consider, but that Katie thinks of almost daily.

“That report card is signed by Mrs. T.S. Boyd,” Katie begins. “At the time she signed it, she was pouring all she had into her students, one of which was my grandmother. My grandmother went on to have kids and grandkids and poured into us knowledge that she likely wouldn’t have known without the influence of her teacher.”

“Now I am the teacher,” Katie continues. “It’s almost as if, without my grandmother’s teacher, I wouldn’t be a teacher. The report card is a reminder of my solid foundation, and how I will have an influence on future generations.”

This year marks Katie’s eleventh as an educator, and her first as Interventionist at Carbon Hill Elementary. As an interventionist, her primary role is to work with students in accordance with Alabama’s Literacy Law, ensuring they are reading on their grade level by or before the time they reach third grade. While helping her students learn to read to the best of their abilities is of extreme importance to her, Katie finds value beyond the surface responsibilities of her work.

“Before you can meet students where they are academically, you have to meet them where they are personally. It's only then that you can mold their hearts, then their minds,” Katie says. “Making personal connections with these kids and creating a sense of trust helps them learn more easily. If they don’t know how much you care, they don’t care how much you know.”

After the trusting relationships are formed and the reading skills are polished, Katie finds a sense of hope in the students who walk through the doors of Carbon Hill Elementary each day. A bulletin board in her classroom reads, ‘School Days are the Best Days’. It's a principle she strives to instill in her students’ minds, and something she truly believes.

 “Any day we’re here growing our minds is a good day,” Katie says. “These students are full of promise, and I want them to look back on these years with fondness. These kids are going to grow up to be our community leaders, our doctors, our mechanics, anything they want to be, and I feel it is my role as an educator to invest in them so that they can invest in the future.” 78