SPOTLIGHT: Veteran Educator’s Distinguished 45-Year Career
Begins in Jamaica and Ends with DCSD
Princeton ES Teacher Is One of 14 Retirees with 40+ Years of Service!
The year was 1977.
America had just celebrated the nation’s bicentennial the year before. The mega-movie franchise “Star Wars” opens, the landmark TV miniseries “Roots” airs, and Georgia’s own, Jimmy Carter, is president of the United States.
It’s also when Susanee Ford walked into the classroom for the first time. It was the beginning of a journey that she would enjoy over a stellar 45-year teaching career, which came to a close following the 2022-23 school year.
Ms. Ford is among over 100 DeKalb County School District (DCSD) retirees honored at the District’s “Circle of Stars Celebration” at Stone Mountain Park’s Atlanta Evergreen Lakeside Resort on June 22. The retirees were honored with a marching band entrance, a sit-down dinner, and a plaque. They were also treated with encouraging remarks from Atlanta news media legend Monica Kaufman Pearson and Barack H. Obama Elementary student Ian Colbert.
“When I was young, I’d always wanted to be a teacher. I’ve always modeled my teaching style after my own teachers, especially my first-grade teacher,” said Ms. Ford. “When I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, it was always a teacher, and I never changed. I love teaching children so much.”
Ms. Ford is one of 14 employees who has worked in education for 40 or more years. Most recently, she served as a teacher at Princeton Elementary School. Having begun her teaching career at the age of 19 in Jamaica, she’s worked in New York and then Georgia at the Pre-k and elementary grade level. She taught in DeKalb County for five years and said her greatest joy was seeing her students promoted to their next grade.
“It’s a joy to see them smiling and so happy when they get that certificate,” she said. “When I look back on all of the students I’ve taught from Jamaica to Georgia, it’s amazing to see them grow up, married with children, and most of them have been to college.”
What is she going to miss most? Her students’ smiling faces!
“I’ll miss waking up, going to the school, and seeing them come in and say ‘Hi’ and ‘Are you ready for a good day?’ But that’s enough now. I enjoyed my whole career. I never regretted being a teacher.”
“I really need some rest now,” she joked. “I’m going to get some good rest.”
DCSD congratulates Ms. Ford and all the retirees for their contributions to their students, peers, and public education.
For a picture gallery from the Circle of Stars Celebration, see: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAJRPQ