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The love of teaching can start in many different places. For Long Cane Elementary School’s Teacher of the Year, Layna Kemp, it all started in high school.

“I joined a teacher pipeline program in Coweta County in high school where I got to have experiences in the classroom and realized that I really enjoyed doing it,” Kemp said. “So, I pursued it into college and became a teacher.”

When Kemp received the news she was LCES’s Teacher of the Year, she said she felt humbled at the recognition.

“I could not believe that a group of amazing teachers in this building would select me to be the teacher of the year,” Kemp said. “I’m surrounded by so much talent and love for students. I was incredibly honored to be voted on by my peers for this.”

Kemp said in her eight years of teaching at LCES, she has gotten comfortable with the curriculum and wants to continue teaching second grade.

“I was willing to take on any challenge that was thrown my way, and over time it’s become home,” Kemp said. “I feel like it’s a great balance of instructional standards and also still having a little bit of the little kid interactions where they are still sweet and want to please their teachers.”

Kemp said the most fulfilling part of teaching is watching her students make connections in learning the material on their own.

“When I made the shift from teacher-directed learning to student-directed learning, I learned that students can discover the goal of the lesson without me having to tell them. Usually, that is what allows them to learn the material the best,” Kemp said. “When I discovered that, it’s become how I teach all of my standards, and I really enjoy it.”

Kemp said the mentorship at LCES has helped her become a better teacher.

“I feel so blessed to be at Long Cane Elementary School,” Kemp said. “I have the best leaders in our administration and the best coworkers who formed my outlook on teaching — I don’t think that I would be the teacher that I am today without those mentorships as relationships that have helped build me over the past eight years.”

When Kemp isn’t teaching, you can find her on the tennis court, reading, or relaxing at home with her husband, Tyler Kemp, and their soon-to-be first child — a baby boy due in April 2023.