Lynette Kelley named Teacher of Month

James Island Elementary School kindergarten teacher Lynette Kelley knew something strange was going on.

Jenny Peterson
The Journal

Lynette Kelley, a kindergarten teacher at James Island Elementary School, was named Teacher of the Month by the Charleston County School District.

Principal Cathy Coleman had asked her to come to the school's new outdoor classroom in the middle of the day to point out which area the students had planted wildflowers.

"I was thinking, 'This is kind of odd,' " Kelley recalls.

The ruse unfolded when she returned to her classroom a few minutes later, greeted by her students, several news cameras, a bouquet of flowers and Charleston County School District Superintendent Dr. Nancy McGinley. The superintendent told Kelley she had been chosen for the school district's Teacher of the Month award for April.

"She's not ever speechless, but she was speechless then," Coleman said. "I've never seen her so happy."

Kelley is the fourth teacher to win the Teacher of the Month award, a new program in the Charleston County School District. McGinley said the district's communications director, Elliot Smalley, came up with the idea for the award.

The process begins when a teacher is nominated for the award through the district's Web site, ccsdschools.com, under the "Teacher Spotlight" link. A nomination communication team looks through the nominations each month and decides which teacher to select.

The team coordinates a time to come to the school and surprise the winner. The team also films the surprise. A 90-second clip of Kelley's reaction will be posted on the district's Web site.

"It's the best part of my job to do this," McGinley said. "It's a nice tradition; we have so many fantastic teachers, and only a handful are recognized."

Kelley, a James Island resident who has taught for 21 years, was chosen as the Teacher of the Month in part because of her participation in the school's outdoor classroom, Coleman said.

"She helped spearhead it and got up to $30,000 of labor and materials to get it going," she said.

"I had no idea," Kelley said, in response to her award. "It's an honor."

Kelley credited her teacher's assistant, Brenda Barnes, with helping to make the outdoor classroom a reality.

She called her husband to tell him about the award, and said he "seemed quite tickled."

"(The award) is something that goes a long way to boost teacher morale," McGinley said. "Teachers are the unsung heroes and do so much behind the scenes. We could probably do this every day."