Special education teacher Adrienne Kidd has been selected as the 2025 Teacher of the Year for Blackburn Elementary School.
Kidd said she has been “very blessed” to have spent her entire 21-year teaching career at Blackburn.
“I taught first grade for three years. I did fourth grade virtual [learning] in 2020/2021, and then the rest of those years have been in Special Education in a variety of settings,” the third generation educator told The Nugget during a recent interview.
In addition to a wide array of experience educating children of different ages and abilities in Lumpkin County, Kidd has contributed to the development of the statewide curriculum as well, helping the Department of Education over the summer as they reevaluated the Georgia Standards of Performance for first grade math.
“It was so fun. It was so eye-opening,” Kidd said of her role in the process. “It felt like I really had my hands in education in Georgia and was being impactful.”
Kidd has also held local, state and national leadership positions with the Georgia Educators Association and the National Educators Association.
At the local level, Blackburn Principal Betsy Green praised Kidd for her ability to create lasting personal connections.
“Adrienne is the kind of teacher that forms relationships with students, and they want to be in her room learning,” Green told The Nugget.
CURRICULUM EXPERT
Kidd obtained two bachelor’s degrees from the University of North Georgia, one in Early Childhood Education and one in Special Education, as well as a master’s in Special Education. She also earned a specialist’s degree in Curriculum from Piedmont University.
Kidd said she got a secondary certificate online that allows her to teach middle school and high school as well as elementary. As a result, half of her senior student teaching component was completed at North Hall High School, while the other half was at Chestatee Middle School.
Kidd said when she first graduated in 2004 there were no positions available at Blackburn, but she was “very lucky” to be hired by the school in 2008.
Unlike many Special Education teachers who develop a passion for the cohort, Kidd said she does not personally have a relative with disabilities. Instead, she was simply looking for an educational challenge to sharpen her skills.
“I always had, since I started, the inclusion class, which means we have our [special education] population come into the classroom and I’d help support. I really enjoyed those kids, and my third year that group was just a special group. It’s a group that now are young adults. They’re probably mid-twenties now. I enjoyed working with them so much that I went to my principal and said ‘I need a challenge. I’m too comfortable now in first grade.’ She said ‘Well, what about this? Let’s talk to the Director of SPED.’ I said ‘Alright, I’ll give it a try.’ It was the best decision,” Kidd recalled.
She called Special Education “tough” but “rewarding,” particularly when there is some kind of learning breakthrough.
“Like today, I had a student. We’d worked all year long with reading and he identified the word ‘the,’ and that’s been one of the hardest things for him. It’s those little, small steps where you help and you know you’re making an impact with the kids,” Kidd explained.
Kidd said her favorite subject to teach is math, and she enjoys making it into a game for her students.
“Third grade math is the best,” she said.
SPECIAL EDUCATOR
Kidd explained that Special Education actually encompasses a spectrum of services starting with consultative-type services and moving all the way to an alternative setting depending on the needs of the child.
She said she mainly uses two methods, parallel teaching and small group teaching, at Blackburn.
She described small group teaching as having second graders come into her classroom for writing, reading or math at the same time they would be receiving that instruction in their normal classroom.
“We’re doing the same content, I’m just helping support them in a variety of ways. Maybe I’m doing it in a little bit smaller place, maybe I’m scaffolding that instruction, maybe I’m having to go back and get some prerequisite skills and then bring them back up to grade level. But I do have the same expectations and I do give them rigor,” Kidd said confidently.
Kidd said she also engages in parallel teaching, which means two teachers are instructing in the same room simultaneously.
“So there’s a lot of support for our kids, because having one teacher teach and one teacher just walking around is a glorified para-pro. So we truly try to make the most of our co-teaching,” she said.
When asked about the most rewarding part of her job, Kidd said it’s forming relationships with the students and letting them know that you “genuinely care for them, respect them and want to hear their side.”
“You want to understand what their needs are and personally recognize them and, if you can, form that relationship with them and their family and have that open communication … You’re going to form that relationship, and when things are tough they’re going to say ‘It’s okay. Ms. Kidd’s not going to get upset with me. I’m going to try my best, and if I can’t make it that’s okay,’” she explained.
Kidd acknowledged that it can be difficult to meet all of the individual needs of her students.
“It’s emotional, it’s behavioral, it’s academic, it’s social, it’s interpersonal,” she said of Lumpkin County’s “whole child” approach to education.
IMPACTFUL ACTIVITIES
In addition to her regular teaching duties, Kidd is co-chair of the yearbook and volunteers with local charity group “Chiefs for Change.”
“It’s a community-based kindness group. We have students from kindergarten to fifth grade. We have well over a hundred members that meet once a month and we do community projects,” she said.
Founded by fellow teacher Megan Pendley a few years ago, Chiefs for Change has donated items to the local Humane Society, stuffed Christmas stockings for local families, raised funds for a school in South America and even engaged in some campus landscaping.
“We’re always doing something,” Kidd added with a smile.
When asked what it means to be selected as Blackburn’s Teacher of the Year, Kidd complimented the “heart” of her school.
“Everybody works so hard, and they’re so wonderful. We’ve just got impactful teachers that go above and beyond. And for them to nominate me? I was very honored and very taken aback by it,” Kidd said.
Meanwhile, Green complimented Kidd for her expertise and adaptability as a teacher.
“She has many amazing strategies that she uses to reach all learners, and if something is not working she is quick to make changes and find the best fit for each student. She is also kind, humble, a wealth of knowledge, and sees the best in students and colleagues,” Green said.