‘Be the one.’ How that motto sums up the Muscogee County Teacher of the Year
The day after he was named 2026 Teacher of the Year in the Muscogee County School District, physical education teacher Chris Grier arrived at Clubview Elementary School wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with his teaching philosophy:
BE THE ONE
Grier credits Clubview International Baccalaureate coordinator Kaylee Brooks with coining the phrase that summarizes his approach to education.
“I can really say that my purpose is to mold and change the lives of the people that I encounter,” he told the Ledger-Enquirer.
For Grier, the motto reminds him to be a mentor or simply a light in a dark moment for his students and colleagues. It’s not about dramatic speeches; it’s about incremental exchanges that add up to major impact.
“You show up every day, and you’re consistent,” he said. “It is literally something as easy as, ‘Good morning. How are you?’ because you don’t know what that person’s gone through.”
BE THE ONE means, Grier said, stepping in when someone needs help — an upset student, a coworker running on fumes.
“If someone’s crying in the hallway, don’t walk past them,” he said. “Hey, how’s it going? What are you struggling with? Let’s talk about it.”
Breaking a rule in the car line
The morning after the Muscogee Educational Excellence Foundation announced Grier as the Teacher of the Year during its annual gala, his mantra came back to him in a wave of matching BE THE ONE T-shirts worn by Clubview faculty, staff and students.
“I had no idea that any of that was happening,” he said.
And a rule was broken in his honor. Folks normally can’t honk in the car line, but a sign gave his supporters permission this day to let their car horns declare their appreciation for him.
“Everybody was honking,” Grier said with a smile.
But the celebration wasn’t just for him, he insisted.
“The energy, the support, everything that was happening this morning, I felt like the kids got a lot out of it,” he said, “because we kind of pumped them up to come to school.”
Talk the talk and walk the walk
Clubview principal Cathleen Heider said she believed Grier could win long before the gala because she sees the same person on the stage and at school.
“I had faith from the beginning,” Heider said. “… I feel like I know that they’re looking for somebody who is good on paper but also somebody who that is their true self, like that. He can talk the talk and walk the walk, right? Everything about him is real. It’s not made up, that is truly who he is and what he does every day.”
When his name was called, she said her reaction came out fast and loud.
“I cried, I laughed, I screamed,” she said. “We’re just so excited for him.”
Grier said the moment hit him with nerves, relief and gratitude at once.
“It was an unbelievable feeling and completely a whirlwind,” he said. “… When they said my name, all I could do was look up, and just everybody erupted and stood up and was excited. And I just felt so humbled that there was so much support there.”
Grier said the award also made him think about the teachers standing beside him.
“It was like, ‘Wow, we really do have an incredible county and an incredible school system,” he said. “The teachers that we have every day, it is such a privilege to be able to be a part of them.”
A motivator in the building
Heider said Grier’s job title doesn’t capture his role at Clubview.
“He is the energy in the building,” she said. “He is just a bright light.”
Students see Grier as someone who shows up for them — in and out of class, Heider said.
“They know that they can go to him with anything,” she said. “It’s not just physical education in the gym; he is in their corner. He’s there to support them.”
And he acts the same way with adults, Heider said.
“Anyone, any of the peers in the building, they know that he will support them,” she said. “He’s always asking, ‘How can I help you?’”
Learning in motion
Grier turns gym class into an opportunity to reinforce what students are taught in academic classes, Heider said.
“He’s incorporating classroom standards,” she said.
Grier teaches lessons that move from imagination to behavior. For example, when he instructs his students to leap like frogs, that game is a moment to discuss the pros and cons of what people do to their environment.
“Let’s talk about pollution, and let’s talk about how we don’t put trash in the pond,” he said, “because we’re frogs, and we’re leaping, and we don’t want to have a pond that’s dirty, right?”
Grier also uses fitness to teach anatomy and health.
“We have a pacer test where we talk about the respiratory system,” he said. “We talk about all the systems of the heart, the chambers, like everything about the human body and why it’s important.”
What students see
Clubview fifth-graders Callie Shafer and Patrick Hardcastle said they appreciate how Grier treats students who don’t come to gym class with confidence.
Callie recalled going to Grier when she couldn’t figure out flag football.
“Almost everyone in my class knew how to play flag football, and I did not know how,” Callie said. “… So I went to Coach Grier, and he drew me out a plan. He showed me videos, and he helped me completely understand it.”
Callie also is grateful for Grier’s patience.
“When I ask a question and he answers it, sometimes I’ll say, ‘I don’t quite understand that,’” she said. “And he’ll give many different ways. He’ll give many different explanations, he’ll just completely help me in any way that I need.”
Callie feels comfortable about asking Grier about more than the curriculum.
“Anytime I need help with something, even not for PE sometimes, I’ll just go up to him and ask him a question, anything like that, and he will try his best to answer it,” she said.
Callie notices Grier remains calm when students push limits.
“He is nice to the kids … even if they’re acting up or something,” she said. “… He won’t just, like, go crazy on them and yell at them. He will get a little bit loud, but he won’t just, like, freak out, you know. He handles it calmly.”
Patrick likes it when Grier puts his positive energy into action.
“He gets so excited,” Patrick said.
Such as when he plays a game alongside the students.
“He’s interactive with us,” Patrick said.
And he tries to maintain a competitive balance.
“He normally evens out the teams,” Patrick said. “So, like, it’s not all these kids on one team just keep winning.”
Asked what he often hears from Grier during gym class, Patrick recalled encouraging words..
“Keep going, keep trying, don’t give up,” Patrick said. “He says that a lot,”
Patrick has seen Grier take on extra work around the school.
“He’s always helping out beyond what he has to do,” Patrick said, “like he does Field Day all by himself.”
Patrick senses Grier’s optimistic mood oozes into students.
“It keeps us confident about ourselves,” he said.
A teacher who needed to move
Grier said he understands the students who struggle in a traditional classroom, because he was one of them.
“I was the one that was very social,” he said. “I was the one that wouldn’t sit down. I was the one that you had to say stop talking.”
That experience pushed him toward physical education because it gave him access to every child in the building.
“Being a PE teacher,” he said, “I felt like I could connect with every kid in the school, instead of just that one class.”
Grier said his mother, Columbus High School assistant principal Michele Grier, set high standards for him. So he grew up with an educator’s expectations.
“I also felt like I always had an administrator at home,” he said. “... You had to be professional. You had to be on time.”
Grier attended Double Churches Elementary School and Double Churches Middle School, graduated from Columbus High School in 2010. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Columbus State University, a master’s degree in kinesiology from the University of North Georgia and a specialist’s degree from Jacksonville State University.
Starting college, Grier wanted to become a history teacher in middle school because he enjoys the subject and he saw the need for more male teachers at that level. But he quickly realized he felt too boxed in by desks and chairs.
“I just wasn’t made for the classroom,” he said. “… I want to move around.”
Grier praised Columbus State’ for guiding him toward a fulfilling career path.
“They do a really good job of putting you into classes and internships to kind of see a teacher and be in their classrooms,” he said. “… I learned very quickly that this would probably be the last time I’d be in a middle school history class.”
Why physical education matters
Grier acknowledged schools feel pressure around testing and academics, but he contends physical education shouldn’t be optional. Movement helps students perform better in class.
“It’s scientifically proven that the once the body is moving, and your blood is flowing, and you’re getting oxygen into your brain and into your muscles and all those things, it helps you think better,” he said. “It helps you perform better,” he said.
No wonder Grier runs his class with urgency, understanding each student has gym for only 50 minutes per week.
“We are high time on task,” he said. “. . . We’re doing. We’re moving.”
That’s why Grier even considered Clubview’s celebration of his Teacher of the Year award — a honking, cheering, high-fiving, hugging affirmation session — was like his physical education class.
“I love the kids,” he said. “… I love just making sure that they’re able to come into the school with a good mindset, you know, and then just be happy to be here.”
