West Laurens High’s Howard honored with statewide teacher of year award

Tammy Howard, a teacher at West Laurens High School, has been honored with the 2024 Georgia Council of Economic Education (GCEE) Teacher of the Year award.

In mid-January, the GCEE announced Howard as the recipient; however the official recognition came during an April banquet attended by Howard’s family, her school principal Dewana Kemp and other district officials. 

Howard recounted the moment she learned of her award during a Zoom meeting, where prior she was led to believe it would be a normal interview: “I thought, oh my gosh! I was excited, my principal was excited. I felt honored.”

Howard has been a teacher of the year before on a local level during her time with the Dublin City Schools, however, she felt this time around was different because it was on a national level. She expressed that she was grateful for both past and present accomplishments regardless of their size. Howard cared more for what came of these achievements. 

“You want to help people as an educator, but you don’t realize how much of an impact you have until you’re recognized by an award or another person,” she said. 

Howard has been a History and Economics teacher at West Laurens for the past three years, but prior to that, spent two decades teaching Social Studies with Dublin City Schools. 

She decided to go into education while she was working as a case manager for the Department of Family and Children Services. She noticed a commonality amongst her cases where a concerning number of people did not have a high school diploma. 

This inspired her to become a teacher, with a goal of helping her students not only pass the graduation test, but do so with flying colors.

Recognizing the evolving landscape of economic education, Howard sought professional training from the GCEE. This commitment led her to participate in a program that included an educational trip to Canada, offering her and other selected teachers across the state a comparative study of economic systems.

Howard’s teaching philosophy emphasizes the importance of financial literacy and responsible money management. 

“Economics has changed to a more financial stance,” she explained. “Having the financial understanding of budgeting for kids to learn from and not find themselves in debt one day is fun. If they can become better savers and consumers, then that’s the goal for a better and brighter future.”