Dougherty Teacher of Year finalist Jennifer Lewis-Polite always wanted to be a teacher (VIDEO)

ALBANY — As a child, Lincoln Elementary Magnet School fourth grade social studies teacher Jennifer Lewis-Polite always knew she was going to be a teacher when she grew up.

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“The greatest factors that influenced me to become a teacher were my mother, grandmother, my love of learning, my love of people, and God,” Lewis-Polite, a finalist for Dougherty County’s Teacher of the Year, said. “There was never a day from my childhood that I did not know what I wanted and was destined to be when I became an adult.”

Lewis-Polite said her grandmother played a huge role in her becoming a teacher.

“As a little girl, I did not go to daycare or preschool, I stayed with my grandmother,” she said. “I remember sitting at the kitchen table with her as she taught my siblings and I how to count and recite our ABCs. She often talked about how necessary it was to have a good education and to believe in ourselves because we were smart.

“As I grew older, she remained firm in that education was vital and should come before playing, because school would provide opportunities to be anything we desired and would provide opportunities to go anywhere in the world. I realized that education was that path that would prepare me to fulfill my destiny.”

She feels brainstorming helps her students learn.

“Children enjoy brainstorming because it is their way of demonstrating creativity in their thoughts,” Lewis-Polite said. “Brainstorming in Social Studies is a method of developing ideas and thought, describing issues and events and seeking answers while exploring without criticism. I want students to imagine themselves in battles, protests, and other experiences that settlers, pioneers, soldiers, slaves, and women endured to gain all the rights we have as citizens.”

Lewis-Polite said she felt fortunate to be involved in the lives of her students.

“Personally, it is an immeasurable honor to touch so many lives and to know that I, hopefully, had a positive impact,” she said. “For eight hours a day, I am a child’s safety net, which is a title I wear proudly.”

Lewis-Polite holds a B.S. and M.S. in Early Childhood Education from Albany State University. She also holds a Specialist degree in Educational Leadership from ASU.

Dougherty County’s teacher of the Year will be named Thursday at a banquet at Hilton Garden Inn.