Southside Early Childhood Center 5K Teacher
story by Jordan Pupa | photography provided to Vip
On May 12th many of us will celebrate Mother’s Day, a special day each year where we can honor and celebrate our mothers, as well as other influential mother-like figures in our lives, for the strong and wonderful people that they are. It is true that mother figures come in all forms, and we should celebrate the many fantastic roles all women out there have on this particular day. Hillary Griggs, a single mother of a three-year-old, also cares for her twenty-three 5k students at Southside Early Childhood Center in Hartsville every day as her own. “Educate” means “lead forth,” and Ms. Griggs does just that.
Hillary knew she wanted to be a teacher her whole life. She will be completing her seventh year teaching this year, but also goes the extra mile outside of the classroom too. In addition to her primary role as a 5k teacher, Hillary is part of the Academic Leadership Team and is over the Parent Team at SECC, which is the PTO. While caring for her son and full-time job responsibilities may seem time-consuming enough, Hillary is also enrolled in a master’s program in Educational Administration through the University of South Carolina in which she will complete in August. “My goal is to one day become a principal to have a larger impact on a larger number of students,” Hillary shares. “Many times, I will have my laptop on the counter cooking dinner or giving my son a bath while still participating in class. There is a large workload along with this, but because the subject is something I have so much passion for it doesn’t seem like as much work as it is. Balancing work, my son, the house, planning events, sleep, and my personal life has become a little more challenging, but it is all worth it.”
Family and love are qualities that Hillary strives to focus her classroom around. The emotional aspect of playing “double duty” as both a teacher and mother can sometimes be challenging. Hillary explains how many students face personal situations at home. “Being a teacher, I do get very invested in my students, inside and outside of school. I hug each one of them every morning. I tell them I love them every day.” She explains how many days she comes home emotionally exhausted from putting out emotional fires, but she is only exhausted because of how much she cares. “I lay in bed each night thinking of other people’s children,” says Hillary. “I honestly love it though. I love that my students feel safe enough to tell me anything or to let go of some of the emotions they might be carrying around. I love being their safe harbor and I feel so blessed to be able to be in a career that allows be that opportunity. I also do have an amazing assistant teacher, Easter Arthur, whom I could not be half the teacher I am without.”
Getting to know students at different levels, not only academically, but personally and socially as well, is important. Hillary builds long-term relationships with students and their families even after they have moved on from her class. A parent of a former student who is now having certain issues in his second-grade classroom recently contacted Hillary for help. Without hesitation, Hillary has picked him up several times since to enjoy some fun quality time, but to also discuss his situation so she can understand and help him to be successful. She has even helped raise funds to help with rent for a parent and collected Christmas gifts for her and her children. Hillary believes that parents are the key to student success, and she has an open-door policy and uses a communication app to constantly keep parents in the loop.
Hillary implements many important and unique lessons throughout the school year. While she welcomes and encourages students, she also works to guide and push them. Hillary shares, “I love teaching Black History Month lessons. Not just because it is such a very important part of our history, but it also teaches my students about racism, bias, the importance of kindness, and most importantly, that no matter who they are, they can make a huge impact on others.” Hillary uses two eggs during this lesson to teach the value of character and what is in the inside; that the color of our skin does not define us. She uses a white egg and a brown egg in which they crack open to find that the yolk is the same. “I know that in this world we live in it is an unfortunate truth that my students may be judged or discounted because of their outer appearance, but I try to teach them to rise above and to know their importance. We talk about ways they can change their world right now, just by simply playing with a student alone on the playground or being kind to others.”
Play is also an important aspect in Hillary’s 5k classroom. The classroom consists of six dramatic play centers including a Veterinarian Clinic, Grocery Store, a Diner, Post Office, Construction Site, and Dino Dig. All while playing in the centers, students learn reading, writing, and math skills, as well as social, language and real-life skills. “I am doing a large push to bring play-based learning back into kindergarten,” says Hillary. “We do units on each center before we open them, so the students have the knowledge to be able to correctly interact in the centers. They each sign up for a job whether it be paleontologist, receptionist, clerk, construction worker, architect, or vet. They know the jobs of each role and they thoroughly enjoy learning this way.” The district and the state department have come and observed Ms. Griggs’ students as they interact within their centers. She was also recently contacted by another school within the area asking if they could come observe the centers to implement within their own classrooms.
It is true that “It takes a village to raise a child.” It is clear that a strong teacher-student relationship helps shape the way children think and act in school and beyond. Teachers that care can make the most impact. Take a moment to thank an influential mother-like figure in your life this month. On Mother’s Day, we have the opportunity to thank our entire village!
