Garner, Liberty’s top teacher, excels in/outside classroom
Thomasena Garner, Teacher of the Year at Liberty Middle School, educates youth both in class and in extracurricular activities. CONTRIBUTED
MADISON – Having worked at Liberty Middle School for 10 years, Thomasena Garner is the 2016 Teacher of the Year.
She teaches seventh-grade life science and will start teaching “Medical Detectives,” affiliated with Project Lead the Way, next semester.
Last year, Garner applied Madison City School’s new curriculum for students to feel comfortable with writing in all classes. “My goal was to make writing (and reading) in science as natural as in English/language arts or social science,” she said.
As the year progressed, Garner’s students were more at ease and began to understand writing’s importance in all subjects, especially STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).
In middle school, youth grow personally and academically. “The transition from sixth to seventh grade seems the most difficult. I enjoy going though this journey with students,” Garner said. “It’s important I meet each student where they are and get them past where they need to be for eighth grade.”
For seven years, Garner coached Liberty Dance Team, winner of numerous awards and four regional and three national titles. Garner has stepped down to assist the athletic director. “This will be a huge change for me, but I’m excited about working with all spirit teams at Liberty.”
Among her teachers, Garner will always remember Dr. Ruby Jewel, who pushed her through undergraduate/graduate school. “She never let me get away with doing just enough. I’ll never forget (when) she gave me a lower grade than what I’d earned. Dr. Jewel said if I saw an A on my paper, I wouldn’t work as hard.”
Dr. Jewel called Garner’s parents “to tell them how I was doing in class (graduate school) and she was very proud of how much I had grown as a student.” Jewel has even visited Garner twice at Liberty. “I hope to someday impact someone’s life the same way she made an impact on mine,” Garner said.
At Alabama A&M University, Garner earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology education. At Middle Tennessee State University, she received an educational specialist’s degree. She soon plans to pursue a doctorate’s degree in science.
She has two “four-legged children”: Dash, a Chihuahua, and Chase, a Jack Russell.
