Meet your neighbor: Molly Rutledge
Published 3:35 pm Thursday, July 19, 2012
- I hope to be remembered as a kind and considerate teacher.”
Seated at one of her students’ desks in her third grade classroom at Leeds Elementary School, Molly Rutledge was pensive as she tried to remember the best teaching advice she ever received.
Finally she smiled and said, “It sounds silly, but a kindergarten teacher told me to beware of Valentine’s Day because the kids all come in hopped up on chocolate. It was true.”
Rutledge has successfully negotiated her way through two of the sugar-spiked holidays and will begin her third year at Leeds Elementary next month.
“I’ve always loved kids and had a passion for them,” she said. “When I was a teenager, I was always babysitting, working as a camp counselor, or volunteering at children’s church or vacation Bible school. Anything I could do to work with kids, I was there.”
Amid the colorful décor typical of elementary grades classrooms, Rutledge identified the rewards of teaching, the things she loves about the South, and the fear she holds common with a globetrotting archaeologist from the movies.
The best part of being a teacher: “Seeing my kids grow. In kindergarten, where I did my student teaching, you can see that every day. In the upper grades, it’s more of a year-long progression, but it’s still really cool to see the growth in the children in just a year.”
Another perk: “The hugs. I’m a sucker for a good old hug.”
Did she ever consider another career? “I worked at Curves for eight years, and I truly loved that. I actually went to school to study fitness, and I loved it, but my passion for children won out.”
How she would like to be remembered by her students: “I hope to be remembered as a kind and considerate teacher. We all have those teachers that shaped our lives, and I would be honored if I was that teacher to just a few of my students.”
Her alma mater: Rutledge was valedictorian of Leeds High School’s class of 2004, the first class to graduate from the Leeds City Schools.
Her favorite subject in school: “Math. I like to figure things out, and I like set rules. This is how you do it, and it works.”
The challenge of teaching math: “It can be a subject children decide early on that they don’t like. Most of my kids, though, are excited about learning, and they’ll get excited about math if you present it the right way.”
Her favorite book: “To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s my mom’s favorite book, and she passed it down to me. I read it in high school, and I need to read it again this summer. I love being from the South, and the story it tells is so inspiring.”
Southern living: “I love our hospitality, the way we wave, nod, and speak to people, and the importance we put on family. I love the way we talk, although my accent gets worse when I go home to Mississippi. It gets more of a drawl in it. I know how to speak correctly, but I am not ashamed of my Southern accent.”
The biggest influence on her life: “My mom has had the biggest influence on me. She taught how to speak up for what I believe in and to always be respectful.”
The best part of her day: “Dinner with my husband.”
The worst part of her day: “Waking up too early in the morning.”
If she could change one thing about the world: “I want there to be no more hungry people in this world.”
Her biggest fear: “Snakes.”
Her favorite guilty pleasure: “I am a huge fan of television. I watch way too many shows.”
Two items she’s never without: “I hate to say this, but my iPhone and Chapstick.”
If stranded on a desert island with one magazine, meal and CD, her choices would be: “People. (It’s my addiction.), Momma’s chicken casserole, and Bon Jovi’s One Wild Night live CD.”
Saturdays in the fall: “My husband and I get up every Saturday, watch College Game Day, and then watch football all day long. My husband is a huge Alabama fan. For his sake, I was glad for Alabama to win the national championship. I was glad to keep it in the SEC.”
Her college loyalty: Rutledge attended Mississippi State for two years before finishing her studies at UAB. “But I’m still a Bulldog. I’m not a Blazer.”