- November 4, 2024
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Charlotte Bradley works with Hayden Welsh and Lukas Notaras. Photo by Jacque Estes
Charlotte Bradley is Rymfire Elementary' s Teacher of the Year. Photo by Jacque Estes
The idea of becoming a teacher manifested itself in Charlotte Bradley’s mind when she was working in the Flagler Schools accounting department.
“I really liked my job, and it paid more, but I thought, “Wow, do I really want to be doing this five or 10 years from now?”
The answer she came up with was, “no,” and she went back to school to become a teacher, and never looked back.
“I have been teaching in Flagler County for 17 years now,” Bradley said. “I started at Indian Trails when it was K to 8, and then I went to Belle Terre (elementary). When Mrs. (Paula) St. Francis went to Rymfire, I was one of those that went with her.”
When it came time to do her internship, she was in Barbara Sauvelpahkick’s third grade class. Now she has her own third grade class, and Sauvelpahkick is the principal at Rymfire.
“I learned from a master teacher, who was teaching the third grade,” Bradley said.
Step into her class and you are likely to see the students immersed in a technical project.
“At Halloween, they created a bat magazine in Google Drive, using a template,” Bradley said. “It was an interactive magazine.”
Even when the students were taking required quarterly tests in December, Bradley found a way to add variety and fun.
“They made ornaments and an online tree for their families this year,” Bradley said. “They are still kids and need to have fun. I am planning to print them out for them to take home to their parents.”
She brags on her kids and their accomplishments, like her class last year who all passed the third grade FSA reading test.
Last year her STEM (Science, Technology, English and Math) students designed their own roller coaster.
“They used Google Hangout to talk to a University of Florida engineering student, and then spoke to an actual engineer about their plans. They were able to ask him questions before they started designing it.”
Some of the students attended the STEM competition at UF and met the student they had been online with.
“My kids were so prepared,” Bradley said proudly. “They explained their project so well, that I had other teachers coming up to me to comment. They explained it better than some of the high school kids.”
Being involved with the parents is an important aspect of her teaching. Parents often contact her by text with class and homework questions.
Bradley said one of the things she enjoys most, is when students from previous years recognize her in a store, or come back to see her.
“Even those who have graduated from high school and are in college, will come back to see me,” Bradley said. “I just love that.”
