Laid off at TSYS. Heeded calling at Synovus. How she became a teacher of the year
Paige Garrett was laid off in 2016 from her job as contact center director at TSYS, where she worked for more than 20 years. She was managing the Synovus call center in Columbus when she heard a different kind of calling in 2019.
She wondered, “What is your purpose in life? What is your true why as to what you should be here for and doing?”
Garrett reflected on what she enjoys most about working, and she realized her servant leadership heart could make a different and perhaps more significant impact on people’s lives.
“I want to really influence students and the future youth that we have in our community,” she thought.
Then she recalled hearing over the years a few teachers mention GaTAPP. That’s the Georgia Teacher Academy for Preparation and Pedagogy, an alternative pathway for folks who have a bachelor’s degree in another field to earn teaching certification faster and cheaper than going back to college while working full-time as a teacher under a provisional certificate.
Garrett, 51, started college to pursue an education degree in the 1990s, but when she moved to Germany, those courses weren’t offered at the University of Maryland in Heidelberg, where her husband at the time was stationed in the U.S. Army. She instead earned a bachelor’s degree in management studies.
So when she renewed her interest in teaching, Garrett researched GaTAPP online and thought “it looked overwhelming, the requirements, but truly knowing what’s expected for education, I said I know I can do this. . . . I’m going to go for it. I’m going to make it work and make it happen.”
And she did — in a mighty successful way.
Garrett entered the Muscogee County School District’s GaTAPP program in August 2019, completed it in 18 months and now is Hardaway High School’s Teacher of the Year.
Relating, then instructing
Garrett, a special-education teacher, was nervous her first day teaching in a classroom at Hardaway, she said, “but I also was very excited that this is what I’ve always wanted to do. … It was a great day. It really was.”
She teaches in what are called interrelated classes. That means she mostly co-teaches with another teacher in classes with a mix of special-education and general-education students learning the same subject at the same time.
Garrett initially was paired with a general-education teacher, Jessica Pritchett, to co-teach biology in 2019-20. In 2020-21, she co-taught algebra with Jackie Wade. Since then, she has been co-teaching geometry with Joshua Alsup.
“I truly feel the partnership,” she told the Ledger-Enquirer.
Garrett also teaches one geometry class by herself as well as adaptive physical education. Regardless of the subject, she quickly learned she must develop a positive connection with her students for them to learn as much as they can.
“I work very hard to establish a good relationship with students and let them I know I do care about them,” she said. “Then we get into the content and learning geometry. They have to know that we’re there for them, they can trust us, and we’re going to be open and honest with them.”
Teamwork skills Garrett honed at TSYS and Synovus, such as clearly communicating, building rapport and resolving conflicts, also have benefited her as a teacher. Similar to her career in the corporate world, she boosts her ability by observing colleagues.
“You kind of watch and mimic other people,” she said, “and you pick up on things that you like and that you want to do well at.”
In particular, Garrett has learned from colleagues how to be better organized. She also is grateful for the Hardaway staff’s welcoming spirit.
Advice for those considering GaTAPP
Garrett’s advice to anyone considering such a career chance it to think of the transition as another opportunity to be a leader.
“It’s very rewarding, and it’s something that’s worth the effort at the end of the day,” she said, “especially when you have students who know that you care about them and who actually thank you for what you’re doing.”
Garrett appreciates the MCSD GaTAPP staff for “setting the expectations. They gave us a lot of support and scenarios to be aware of and teach us about what it would be like in the classroom. They gave us a great foundation for how to care for our students, how to seek help when we needed help and were always available for us.”
One of her toughest moments as a teacher turned into one of her best.
When a student misbehaved in her geometry class, she took extra time to find a connection to talk about that interested him, even though it wasn’t related to their schoolwork.
“He started listening more to me, trying to do a little more work,” she said. “At the end, I think it helped develop a relationship that said, ‘OK, I care about you and want you to pass my class, and here’s a way to do it.’”
The student complied and passed the class.
“It was great,” she said. “… It was very rewarding to see he was able to do that.”
When the faculty voted Garrett as the school’s Teacher of the Year, she said, “I was quite shocked. … There are so many great educators here and so many of them who’ve worked very hard and are well-liked by teachers.
“I just attribute it to my relationship with people. I always try to collaborate with others. How can we achieve the same thing? How can I support my peers. I believe in, ‘If you see a need, fill a need.’ If you can help someone else, then do that.”
Garrett acknowledged the paperwork she is required to do as a special-education teacher or finding effective classroom management techniques for different students can be difficult, “but I’m not going to give up and just leave.”
When those rough days come, she relies on the MCSD GaTAPP motto: “Remember your why.”
Garrett’s why is her students.
“They need me,” she said, “and I need them.”
Impact on students
Hardaway junior Daniel Parhams, 17, and sophomore Jashanti Surles, 16, told the L-E they are grateful to be in Garrett’s geometry class.
“No matter how fast of a learner or slow of a learner,” Daniel said, “she’ll take as much as you need just for you to understand before she leaves.”
Jashanti added, “If you don’t understand something, she’ll get to you right away or as soon as she can. … She’s very enthusiastic. She has good humor.”
Daniel feels comfortable to talk with Garrett about life outside the classroom.
“You can just be yourself around her,” he said.
Daniel recalled a time when he was feeling bad about the criticism he heard from fellow students after the football team suffered a frustrating loss.
“I just kind of had my head down the whole class,” he said. “She took me out (of the classroom) and just talked to me and just tried to uplift me.”
Her approach worked.
“She just told me that everybody has a bad day,” he said, “but it’s all about how you respond.”
Jashanti also feels comfortable discussing topics beyond academics with Garrett.
“When I speak with her about personal matters,” Jashanti said. “like when I had something wrong with my chest and had problems with my breathing, she helped me calm down.”
No wonder Hardaway principal Maurdrice McNeill described Garrett as a nurturer.
“She’s loving, she’s caring and eager to learn,” he told the L-E.
When he observes her in the classroom, McNeill said, “She’s very intentional about reaching the kids and meeting them where they are so she can get them where they need to be and show that growth throughout the year.”
McNeill is proud of the Hardaway faculty for supporting Garrett and the school’s other teachers who graduated from or are in GaTAPP now. That amounts to at least 10 out of the approximately 85 teachers on staff.
“We are a collective unit,” he said. “We’re a team.”
And the program helped Hardaway fill teacher vacancies, McNeill said, especially in hard-to-hire areas such as special education.
Program’s growth and success
MCSD is one of six school districts in the state with its own GaTAPP program since the Georgia Professional Standards Commission approved it in 2018. The other providers are through 14 Regional Education Service Agencies, along with Wiregrass Technical College and the Georgia Charter Schools Association.
The first year for GaTAPP in MCSD, 2018-19, had 35 teacher candidates start the program, but 11 withdrew before completing it.
“That was a big attrition rate,” program administrator Angie Jacobson told the L-E.
For the next cohort, which included Garrett, the applicants had to be interviewed to join.
“We continued those ever since,” Jacobson said. “… We’re looking for the dispositions. I’m very honest in those conversations.”
Since then, from 2019-23, MCSD improved its GaTAPP retention rate from 69% to 89% as only 13 of 117 teacher candidates withdrew before completing the program or are currently enrolled. So those admissions interviews have helped candidates better understand the time commitment involved and the organizational skills needed, Jacobson said.
“I think it’s setting some realistic expectations and then providing the support of what they need beyond that,” she said.
Three program supervisors who are retired MCSD educators help coach the teacher candidates, do observations and provide feedback. Specialists for content and teacher quality also are part of the support team, as well as administrators at the school.
“Most of our candidates will tell you: Yes, we prepared them in essentials, but they don’t really know until that first day of class starts,” Jacobson said.
MCSD’s GaTAPP has become more selective on the front end as well. All the applicants were admitted for that first cohort in 2018-19. Now, the acceptance rate is 80-85%, Jacobson said.
“If they make it past us, we send their resumes out to principals who have vacancies in their teaching interests,” she said. “Then the principals do the final selection.”
The newest cohort has 17 candidates teaching in MCSD classrooms now.
Jacobson called Garrett’s Teacher of the Year award “fabulous” — but she noted it’s not the first time an MCSD GaTAPP graduate has received such an honor in the program’s four-year history. Alexis Jones went through the program before becoming Kendrick’s Teacher of the Year last school year.
“It’s phenomenal,” Jacobson said. “It’s due to teamwork. Not only the TAPP personnel, but we have great support from other departments and specialists within the district who support our candidates and then also at the school level. But first and foremost, it’s the hard work of our candidates. They’re coachable, and they really want to do what’s in the best interests of our students.”
Information meetings
Anyone interested in the MCSD GaTAPP program can learn more about it by attending the information meeting Feb. 21, starting at 6 p.m. in the Columbus Public Library, 3000 Macon Road.
A virtual option will be online Feb. 23, starting at 6 p.m. Register at sites.muscogee.k12.ga.us/gatapp to receive the Zoom link.
The presentation is scheduled to be posted on the MCSD GaTAPP website by March 1.
