Veterans Memorial teacher named school Teacher of the Year, Newton County finalist

Kamara Whitening, a sixth-grade math teacher at Veterans Memorial Middle School, said she was recognized as the school’s Middle School Teacher of the Year and is a finalist for Newton County Schools’ Teacher of the Year. In remarks on the meeting transcript, Whitening described how personal loss and classroom relationships shaped her approach to teaching.

Whitening said she moved to Georgia with a degree in a field other than education and that her mother encouraged her to try teaching. "Try it," she recalled her mother telling her; she said she has since "flourished" in the role. Whitening described the school as a "family community" in which coworkers work together to support both students and one another.

She recounted that in her second year of teaching she lost her father and that one of her students lost his mother during the same year. Whitening said she returned to work after her bereavement and that the student later told her, "the reason he continues to come to school is because I showed him that you can continue to get up every single day and pursue things even when you're going through something hard." She said the student is now an eighth grader preparing to graduate.

Describing what the recognition means to her, Whitening said being chosen by her coworkers as someone who "holds the values of our building" was "humbling" and an honor. She said the most important lesson she hopes students take from her classroom is that "you can do hard things" and that "your past doesn't define your future." She added that being a finalist for the county award "means everything" to her.

Whitening said the most rewarding part of her career is building relationships with students and that she wants former pupils to remember that she was committed to their success and willing to support them through difficulties. No formal actions or policy decisions were recorded in the transcript excerpts provided.