(Editor’s note: Meet one of the five finalists for Columbia County’s Board of Education Teacher of the Year Award. The winning teacher will be announced at Columbia County’s Teacher banquet on Oct. 5 at White Oak Road Farm.)
Ameesha Butler uses comedy, high energy, singing and other talents in her career, but she’s not an entertainer.
“I am a little out-of-the-box; I’m very lively. To me, the classroom is my stage,” said Butler, a Westmont Elementary School third grade teacher. During Westmont’s reconstruction, she’s teaching at Martinez Elementary School. “I think — to keep the kids engaged — I like to put on a good show and I like to make it interesting. I try to be funny and relatable for them.”
With her mini dance parties and lights, encouraging notes, singing and chanting, Butler openly admits she can be a bit much sometimes when cheering for her students, but she feels it highlights to her students how important she finds their growth to be.
“Any way I can hype up anything to cheer them on, I’ll do it … I’m their school mom, and they’re my school babies,” she said. “Any way that I can celebrate them, big or small, even if it’s just a compliment or me acknowledging that I see them, they appreciate it.”
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Despite her “unorthodox” teaching, Butler still implements high expectations for her students.
“I still have super high expectations for them; so, while we might be joking, or laughing or having a good time, and it might be a little noisy – we’re still working hard,” she said. “They always show a lot of growth and they’re always very proud of themselves.”
To further the kids’ engagement and curiosity, Butler said she enjoys organizing hands-on activities for the students to learn concepts such as math and science.
Butler said she is extremely passionate about teaching and thinks of it as a huge part of who she is because it makes her feel useful.
“My husband would probably tell you I eat, sleep and breathe teaching. It comes home with me every day, and even when I’m off, I’m working on something that has to do with my classroom,” she said. “My mom would probably tell you I’ve been a teacher since I was little. It’s not really something that I can turn off or turn on … I feel like I get the most out of it and I’m pouring into others as much as possible.”
Surprisingly Butler admitted, growing up, she had no interest in being a teacher due to the low salary – even though her mom was and always loved it. Being a natural academic all her life, she first decided to pursue engineering at University of South Carolina.
“I actually left home after high school, and I went to USC in Columbia and I loved it … I was actually in chemical engineering then, but I just wasn’t super fulfilled. It wasn’t heartwork for me; I wasn’t happy,” she said. “When it wasn’t fulfilling I was kind of just like, ‘oh my gosh, what do I do now?’”
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After calling her parents and explaining her feelings about considering teaching, her mother was happy and responded, “‘well gosh, it’s about time you realized it.’”
Butler then took her first education class and came back home, she soon realized she loved every minute of it.
“I decided I would be the coolest teacher ever and have the coolest classroom ever,” she said.
A “Triple-Jag,” Butler has earned a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education, Master of Education in Instruction degree and an Educational Specialist in Advanced Educational Studies degree from Augusta University.
Despite her hesitation when she was younger, now Butler thinks of teaching as one of the most rewarding things she has ever done.
“It’s so rewarding to me. Whether it’s seeing a kid who hasn’t understood something understand it or seeing a change in behavior,” she said. “I often think, ‘gosh if I had stayed an engineer, what would I have missed out on? This is just great.’”
Butler explained the importance she puts in investing in her students to show them support inside and outside of the classroom. She also emphasized the importance of students having a cheerleader in their corner and, for many, she hopes to be exactly that.
“I try to make it my business to invest in them as much as I can – in the classroom and outside the classroom. I’ll go to their games, and I’ll go to whatever they’re having; it’s so they can see me and they know, ‘oh this isn’t just the lady who teaches me all day and just wants me to know what she wants me to know. This lady cares about me,’’’ she said. “So, I like just the relationships that I have with my kids, all 46 of them. I just get so much love and enjoyment out of it.”
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Butler said, even with more challenging students, she has been able to use her investment in them to motivate their learning. She said students put a lot of stock in teachers keeping their word.
“I never want them to think that I don’t care … I never want them to think that I’m just here to get the work out of them,” she said. “For me, I want them to know that not only will I work hard for you in the classroom, but I will go out of my way to show up for you – that’s how much you matter to me.”
Butler said she also loves seeing her students gain confidence and pride in their abilities and hard work. She admits not all kids’ strong suit is in the classroom, which is why teachers need to support them in other aspects outside the learning environment where they so succeed.
To bring said support back into the classroom, Butler will mention students’ outside success so the whole class can celebrate them. Sometimes, she can even connect sports back to other subjects like math to make it more interesting to athletically gifted children.
“Seeing them be proud of themselves and grow and mature – those are the best things,” she said. “Most importantly, I hope that they take with them, and they remember always that I loved them and I cared about them.”
Butler also said she hopes her students remember the fun activities and memories they shared together. Fortunately, she often already hears students remembering great days in her classroom as older students are known to stop by her classroom and share fond memories.
“That’s a really cool thing for me,” she said.
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Butler also tries to connect subjects like math and reading into real world scenarios, such as reading a restaurant menu, to show her students the value of education.
“Numbers on a paper don’t really mean a lot, but when you can plug it into something that they care about, or that they can make a connection to, then it’s a little more beneficial and it’s easier to teach,” she said. “I love the content, and I love making it real for them.”
Every opportunity Butler gets to make something exciting in the classroom, she takes advantage of to keep her students’ wonder piqued.
“I think it makes me a better teacher because it challenges me to think about ‘how can I see this in the world and what will make it relevant to my kids?’ It’s also super fun,” she said. “They’re really hyped up about it and I’m equally as hyped up about it.”
For one example, last year, Butler had a golf-centered day to learn a little bit about the Masters through reading passages.
“Last year, at Masters’ time, I went out and bought some putters and everybody wore golf gear. I cut out some greens, some sand traps and some ponds,” she said. “I wrote some passages; we read about Arnold Palmer, and we made Arnold Palmers. We ate pimento cheese and egg salad sandwiches. We golfed and we answered a lot of comprehension questions. We did a lot of Masters’ type math, like everything was geared around the Masters. Like word problems and measurements – all those things.”
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Other examples of Butler’s fun activities included a Fear Factor themed after Halloween party, and the borrowing of a parent’s ambulance to teach students about healthcare.
Butler has recently been certified in middle grades English and language arts and is considering pursuing a certification in middle grade science. In five to ten years, Butler thinks she may endeavor to become an instructional coach to train future teachers and help them acclimate to the school environment.
“If I’m not in the classroom, I’d really like to be in a coaching role I think,” she said.
The winner of the Teacher of the Year Award will be announced on Oct. 5 at 6 p.m. at the White Oak Road Farm.
Liz Wright is a staff writer covering education and general assignments for The Augusta Press. Reach her at liz@theaugustapress.com
