FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — 11Alive has been following Heritage Elementary third grade teacher Kelsey Drews throughout the pandemic. She's the 2020-2021 Fulton County School's Teacher of the Year.
The start of 2022 is an exciting time for Drews. Her third graders are getting ready to take the Georgia Milestones Assessment for the first time, and are getting ready to participate in writer's boot camp.
"I am a very optimistic person," Drews said. "I think on chaos. So me, personally, I'm like, 'alright, what's next?' This is where we see the most growth in our kids. They just seem to shoot up right after January."
The start of the year also came with a COVID-19 omicron surge, bringing yet another hurdle to educators everywhere.
"Every time that you think that you have your feet under you, you lose your balance," she said.
With COVID-19 cases surging after the holidays, Drews' classroom returned to virtual learning for one week.
“I had 17 kids all login, and they’re all waving at me. That was amazing," she said. "I was so proud of them to be able to figure it out and charge their laptops!”
When they returned to the classroom, the desks moved back to pandemic spacing.
“I feel like we went back in time a little bit. Each day is something new. The safety around it, and the worrying about your family and worrying about if you’re doing the right thing. That is exhausting,” she said.
At Heritage Elementary, teachers decide what that looks like.
"There's so much on the teacher's plate, I decided to move my desks, I decide that we wipe the desk three times a day, I make sure that they're washing their hands," she said. "There's a lot on you as the teacher."
Drews spaced hers into groups of two, facing forward in rows, with several students by themselves.
"You're just doing the best to try to fit a large amount of students in a small space and try to stay safe," she added.
Balancing health and teaching also came with the start of 2022. Drews had a sore throat in January. While she tested negative for COVID-19, she took a few days off work for precaution.
“We have this insane amount of guilt when we're not in the building or in the classroom," she said. "It's a lot of work to make really good sub plans and make sure that your kids are set up and you just feel bad, you feel guilty. But at the end of the day, we have a teacher shortage because teachers aren't being treated the way that they deserve.”
Drews is looking forward to navigating teaching with her students, especially as they take on the Georgia Milestones.
"I'm always like coming up with new ideas and riding that wave," she said.
To read journal entries written by Drews, click here.