MARTINEZ, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Days before the first bell rings, the halls of Martinez Elementary are already active. Teachers are setting up classrooms, arranging shelves and preparing lessons ahead of the new school year.
For first-grade teacher Bailey Ledbetter, the moment carries added weight. It is her first year in her own classroom — and a return to the community where she was raised.
A promise made in high school
Ledbetter’s path to teaching began during her freshman year at Evans High School, where she enrolled in a teaching pathway program. The program introduces students interested in education to child development and provides hands-on classroom experience.
“I started my program my freshman year of high school and I carried it out all the way until I graduated,” Ledbetter said. “Towards my junior and senior years, we got to do our own little student teaching.”…