Muscogee’s Teacher of the Year had other plans. What led her to the Columbus classroom?
The Teacher of the Year in the Muscogee County School District didn’t want to be a teacher.
In fact, Lisa Seegar laughed as she recalled telling her parents, while growing up in Columbus and attending Jordan Vocational High School, “I will do anything but be a teacher.”
Seegar, a fifth-grade teacher at Britt David Magnet Academy, was announced as the winner of the 2021 award Thursday night during the Muscogee Educational Excellence Foundation’s ceremony, broadcast online due to COVID-19 precautions.
In an interview Friday with the Ledger-Enquirer, Seegar explained her mistaken view of teaching came from the derogatory cliche that says, “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.”
Seegar planned to be a nurse, but when she and her classmates at Columbus State University started practicing drawing blood on each other, she changed her mind. She thought about enjoying the work she did with children at a church’s after-school program, and she realized she indeed could be an effective teacher.
“Building those relationships with students and seeing their lives change for the better,” she said, “those types of things just ignited my passion.”
That’s the most significant key to Seegar’s success, said Britt David principal Karen Garner.
“She has so much compassion for them,” Garner said. “It’s never about her.”
Just ask her students.
Britt David fifth-graders Addison Evans, Brooklynn Horne and Wali Mohyuddin said Seegar not only is kind, funny and energetic, but she also gets them excited about science by giving them engaging hands-on activities every day.
Addison, 11, said she didn’t like science until she started learning from Seegar.
“She did more than just teach it to us,” Addison said. “She showed us how it works and did it in different ways to help us understand. … She made it a lot easier and more entertaining.”
Brooklynn, 11, likes that Seegar asked the students to make videos about themselves to help her get to know them. She also likes the science centers Seegar sets up “so you can visually see what you’re doing.”
Wali, 10, appreciates Seegar taking time to answer each student’s question.
“She’s patient,” he said. “She loves all her students.”
The following interview with Seegar has been edited for brevity and clarity:
The morning after this big announcement, what’s going through your head?
“I am just so honored. Teachers in Muscogee County have been pioneers this year in education. They have stepped into their classrooms and been some of the bravest people I know. … We didn’t know when we walked in how our health would be affected, how teaching in a pandemic was going to look, how to best meet the needs of our students. But these teachers showed up every day and gave everything they had, day in and day out. And so it is just an honor just to walk alongside them this year.”
As MCSD’s Teacher of the Year, you are considered a spokesperson for public education in Columbus. What do you want to advocate most?
“Teachers are some of the most hardworking, selfless people that I know, and, a lot of times, what’s portrayed nationally doesn’t always support that. … They get on social media or hear things that are disparaging. I want to be able to go out and say, ‘Let me tell you all of the amazing things going on behind those walls’ because our community deserves to know. And MEEF does an excellent job of promoting that, and I’m just excited to partner along beside them and help get that message out.”
How can more people be encouraged to become teachers, and how can more teachers be encouraged to stay in the profession?
“We need to really do a better job of communicating just the worth of a teacher. I mean, teaching is sacred. You have the ability to change lives on a daily basis. … You’re able to provide opportunities for growth, to give them insights on themselves that maybe they have never thought of before, and really inspire them to do great things. … If we talked about teachers with the same reverence that we talk about doctors and lawyers, if we recognized teachers as professionals, … I think you would have more people signing up to do this amazing work.”
You are a classic case of someone who, as a high school student, didn’t have the right message in mind about teachers. Life experience made you change.
“You’re exactly right. It’s so awesome now. Muscogee County does have teacher cadet programs in their high schools. And that’s amazing because it opens high-schoolers’ eyes to what teaching is and how amazing it is.”
Your students and folks who see you teach say you connect with the children in your classroom as human beings first so they are more willing to learn from you. How do you connect with kids?
“I feel like my classroom is my mission field, and that is how I can make this world a better place, one kid at a time. … These kids just crave relationships. They do. When you talk to them about things that matter to them, … and they see that you’re interested in them as a person, then they’re willing to do whatever you ask them to do in the classroom because then they trust you. … It’s really just moments in a day, a connection with your eyes at the door when they’re walking in, telling them hello, that you’re glad they’re there. … And in just those few seconds of connection over time, those seconds add up, and real relationships are formed.”
How has teaching been different during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what have been the challenges?
“Well, the very first challenge came March 13 of last year, when we walked out of our classrooms and never got to see our students and tell them goodbye. We were just mourning what could have been during those last few months of school. So during the summer, we had to find our game faces and say, ‘You know what? We’re going to do this.’ … We had to learn so much about technology and how to Zoom and how to do it effectively, how to post assignments online and digitally grade things. … There were times when I would be stressing out, … and teachers would just pour into me. … I think that the relationships in this building have just grown exponentially because we relied on each other in the face of adversity.”
How have you handled simultaneously teaching in-person students and those online?
“Teachers realize how important every second is. And so, when you’re on Zoom, you’re worried about the kids in the room. ‘I should be up. I should be talking. I should be making connections.’ And then when you’re not right there with Zoom and you’re with the kids in the room, you feel horrible about the kids whose parents didn’t get the lab supplies, so they’re just having to sit and watch as we do the labs. … We did the very best we could in the circumstances. We really had to kind of pump ourselves up each day. … We’re going to give it everything we have because our students deserve that.”
ABOUT LISA SEEGAR
Age: 45
Position: Fifth-grade science teacher at Britt David Magnet Academy.
Experience: 21 years as a teacher, including five at Britt David. Previously at Aaron Cohn and Midland middle schools. Also has taught math, English language arts and gifted education.
Education: Attended MCSD schools Nankipooh Elementary School, Richards Middle School and Jordan Vocational High School, graduating in 1994. Bachelor’s degree in middle school math and science, Columbus State University, 2000.
Family: Husband, John, works for RangeWater Real Estate. Sons are Hendon, a senior at Northside High School, and Graham, a sophomore at Northside. Parents are Charlotte and Edwin Roberts. Sister, Jennifer Bray, teaches fifth-grade social studies at Britt David.
This story was originally published May 8, 2021 at 8:00 AM.
