Simmons, Riverchase teachers shine as Hoover’s Teachers of the Year

by

Simmons Middle School science teacher Krystal Pettit originally thought she wanted to be a science lab researcher, but when she taught adult botany classes at the Denver Botanical Gardens in the 1990s, things changed.

“I just fell in love with teaching,” said Pettit, who in December was named the Hoover School District’s Secondary Teacher of the Year.

The experience changed the course of her life. She moved to Orange County, California, got certified as a teacher and began a new journey that included teaching three years in a gang-heavy part of Orange County, two years in Riverside County, California, and three years in Texas. She moved to Alabama in 2007 and is now in her 19th year of teaching at Simmons.

She now will be considered in the Alabama Teacher of the Year competition, along with Callie Miller, a special education teacher at Riverchase Elementary who was named Hoover’s Elementary Teacher of the Year.

Secondary Teacher of the Year

Simmons Middle School Principal Walter Womack said Pettit is known as a teacher who is great at building relationships with students.

Pettit said she has a deep love for science and enjoys sharing her excitement for science with students, but more than anything, she loves building relationships with her students and watching them grow and develop as people.

“I want them to be kind and nice and work together,” she said. “I want them to feel like they’re appreciated and they are valued.”

Her love for her students is reciprocated, Womack said. When students from Hoover High come back and walk the halls of Simmons before they graduate, she is always one of the teachers they seek out, he said.

Pettit has photos of herself with former students pasted on the wall of her classroom. Whenever they come to visit or she sees them outside of school, she snaps a photo with them, she said.

“I actually have a huge pile of photos I have not put up there because I’ve run out of space,” she said.

She has lunch with a group of ninth graders on Saturday every so often and another group of former students who are in their 20s, she said.

The most rewarding part of being a teacher is seeing the students grow up to live productive lives, she said.

Pettit is also always looking for ways to grow professionally, Womack said. She earned a master’s degree in special education and is certified as a behavior intervention specialist and in cross language academic development. She is also certified by the National Institute for STEM Education and was certified as a lead teacher in a NASA program at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.

Pettit served as a mentor for teacher candidates in California and Texas and first-year teachers at Simmons. She has also mentored teachers in Huntsville through Google Meet meetings.

In addition to her teaching duties, Pettit is the sponsor for the Scholars Bowl team and an assistant coach for the cross-country team. Outside of school, she enjoys spending time in her garden, hiking and doing yoga classes.

Elementary Teacher of the Year

Callie Miller taught for seven years at Brookwood Elementary School in Tuscaloosa County before coming to Riverchase last year. She teaches 11 students with the most severe disabilities in a self-contained classroom but works hard to ensure that her students are active and visible members of the school community at large, Principal Taylar Posey said.

Miller’s students go trick-or-treating around the school at Halloween and have been involved in a school baking project. Through collaboration with colleagues, she creates opportunities for her students to serve on safety patrol, participate in student-led organizations and engage in weekly community groups that promote schoolwide inclusion.

“She goes above and beyond just to make them feel included,” Posey said. “Everybody loves her class, and a lot of that is due to Ms. Miller and the work that she puts in because she wants them to be able to excel and be their best.”

Even though her students have severe challenges, Miller still expects the most out of them, Posey said.

“She sets high expectations. She wants them to participate and learn social skills,” Posey said. “She has a love for all of her students. She wants them to be able to grow and learn.”

Miller said she knew early on she wanted to be a teacher. She loved school and her teachers as a child, and it was clear to her pretty quickly that she was drawn into special education.

“These kids really need somebody in their corner. They need a teacher who’s willing to give them everything they deserve,” she said. “I think sometimes people discount kids because they might have a disability or they might look different, but they can teach you something every day. They teach me more than I teach them. … I just wanted to be able to make a difference — to make my little spot where I can positively make an impact.”

Miller said her job is challenging because her students are so diverse. Her class serves students from all the elementary grade levels, and they have a wide range of abilities, but she never dreads coming to work, she said.

“There’s never a dull moment,” she said. “It’s so much fun to see their growth and progress. … They keep us laughing. We just have so much fun. They are just the light in this school. They are what keeps us going.”

She feels like this honor is really a group award because special education is a job that can’t be done alone, she said. She has three aides who help her, and Riverchase is a great school with a great team of people, she said.

Miller is the lead exceptional education teacher at Riverchase and serves on the school’s leadership team and accreditation team. She has also served as a teacher mentor and is the head of Sunshine Committee, which organizes socials for faculty and staff.

Outside of school, she enjoys playing pickleball, going to concerts and doing CrossFit.

Posey said that while this is only Miller’s second year at Riverchase, “She’s already been a shining light.”