Driggers selected as Horizon’s Teacher of the Year

Her colleagues at Horizon Elementary School selected Annette Driggers as Teacher of the Year.

For Driggers, teaching is different every day and never boring. “I’ve been blessed in a career that I love. Young children have such a sense of wonder,” she said.

Teachers’ major challenges today involve situations over which they have no control. She believes policymakers “dictating mandates should spend some time in classrooms.”

Driggers first taught kindergarten and first grade at Sawnee Elementary School in Cumming, Ga. Since moving to Madison in 1992, she has taught preschool and second grade.

Driggers was born in Burlington, N.C. and grew up in Doraville, Ga. She earned a bachelor’s degree at North Georgia College and a master’s degree in early childhood education at Georgia State University.

During 32 years of teaching, she best remembers two children — one humorous, one touching. Kindergartner Billy “was quite the outgoing, adventurous child. For show-and-tell, Billy brought a large bucket … and pulled out the largest bullfrogs I’ve ever seen.” Immediately, the seven bullfrogs jumped all around Driggers’ classroom.

Another student, first-grader John “was obviously poor. He wore dirty hand-me-downs and had little personal hygiene. My heart broke as he came to school in old, pink shoes and raggedy clothes,” Driggers said.

Teachers then were encouraged to visit homes. Driggers found John on a chicken farm with illiterate parents in “horrid” living conditions. She contacted agencies to help the family. Her church provided food.

Driggers’ friend cut John’s hair. They bought clothing and school supplies for John and his siblings. On the first day of school, John arrived with new haircut and clothes. “It was a day I’ll never forget. The other children couldn’t believe it was John. He became a very confident learner and always tried so hard in the classroom.”

That year, Driggers continued to visit John’s home and got to know the family well. “The last I heard, John had graduated from high school,” she said.

Her husband Dennis is an electrical engineer for the U.S. Army. Their daughters are Baylee, a senior at Bob Jones High School, and Sadie, a Bob Jones sophomore.