More Awards
Dr. Kelley isn’t the only math teacher earning recognition. A second math teacher at Hamilton County High School, Marvin Haliburton, has been nominated for the 2015-2016 national LifeChanger of the Year.To view his profile and bolster his nomination, visit lifechangeroftheyear.com.The winner of this award will be announced Jan. 15. Check future editions of East Hamilton Weekly for any updates.
Some days, when Dr. Gregory Scott Kelley walks into his math classes at Hamilton County High School, he’s Irish. Others, he’s a Southern man he calls “Bubba.”
“I’ll use whatever voice I can to surprise them and wake them up to pay attention,” he said simply.
It is that drive and passion for his students and their futures that earned him the title of Teacher of the Week and now Teacher of the Year through American Paper and Twine. On Dec. 27, he’ll attend his second Titans game in Nashville as a reward.
For the former nuclear engineer turned educator it’s not about the reward, it’s about his kids – and finally being in the career in which he feels he belongs. After all, teaching has been in his blood since long before he left his position at Tennessee Valley Authority and pursued a career in education.
“I tutored my first girlfriend’s father in math and I would always help the neighborhood kids,” he said. “I would always go over their homework with them because it made sense to me, and I guess the way I explained it to them, it made sense [to them] afterward, too.
“I was a C-student in high school, so if I can do it, you surely can too,” he added. “It’s about ‘Are you doing the best you can do?'”
For Kelley, that distinction is important, since he teaches in a non-traditional high school for students ages 17-21 who have either been kicked out of school or fallen behind.
“The book hasn’t been written yet,” Kelley said emphatically in regards to his students’ educational history. “My students have a great propensity to be anything. I talk to a lot of teachers that love teaching the advanced classes and all of that. But those are the kids who need us least. It’s the ones that need a teacher, need guidance, that really need the help. Those advanced kids, they’ll be successful regardless. It’s those other kids; that’s who I love to teach.”
And to teach them to the best of his abilities, Kelley will pull out any trick – or voice – he has.
“Because I don’t let kids fail themselves,” he reiterates. “They might want to, but I won’t let them.”
Email Gabrielle Chevalier at gchevalier@timesfreepress.com.