Educator of the Week: Liakita Darnell
It’s time now to recognize this week’s Educator of the Week, brought to you by the Tennessee Education Lottery.
Liakita Darnell teaches 7th grade Language Arts at Northeast Middle School in Jackson.
She’s been teaching for seven years, and says her favorite thing about being an educator is exploring literature and history, and building relationships with her students.
“I want to continue to learn how to be a better teacher, a stronger teacher, be a leader in my community that they can look up to,” Darnell said. “I want students to feel comfortable with me of anything that they’re going through, because whatever they’re going through, I wanna be supportive to them and that’s going to help them in their field of education.”
Darnell encourages future educators to draw on passion and diligence.
“If you’re thinking about being a teacher, you have to love children, you have to love kids, you have to embrace diversity because so many students come from various backgrounds, you have to be patient, you have to build relationships with those students and it doesn’t happen overnight,” said Darnell.
Darnell highlights the power that teachers hold.
“Being a teacher is like one of the most important roles,” Darnell said. “We wouldn’t have doctors, we wouldn’t have lawyers, we wouldn’t have nurses, you wouldn’t have your job if you didn’t have a teacher to teach you the skills that you need to be equipped in order for you to perform what you’re performing now.”
Darnell spoke about the need for more teachers, and for more people to care about our youth.
“Keep in mind that our children need us, they’re our future. And think about like it’s an investment,” she said.
Darnell was surprised to learn of her nomination.
“I don’t look for an award,” she said. “The award is when my students say, ‘Hey I got it.’ The award is when the students say, ‘Ms. Darnell, thank you for helping me.’ The award is when I see a student, I just saw a student a few years ago [who] said ‘If it wasn’t for you, I would have dropped out of school.'”
Darnell is now eligible for the Tennessee Education Lottery Educator of the Month award.
To vote for her or any other nominees, go to the Tennessee Education Lottery website.
To nominate an educator for our Educator of the Week award, email us at [email protected].
