Albany 6th grade teacher wins $10,000 classroom makeover

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - Many teachers say they often use their own money to help with school supplies. But one Dougherty County teacher won’t have to do that after winning a $10,000 award for a classroom makeover.

“This check is going to help me tremendously,” Chateireya Fordham, a 6th-grade science teacher at Merry Acres Middle School, said. “I think it’s gonna also help our students because some of the technology we’re buying, they don’t even have these opportunities at home. So it gives them a more hands-on approach with technology that would probably be unfathomable to them.”

This grant comes from one of the Dougherty County School System’s partners called Ed Farm whose main objective is to enhance technology in the classroom. But before this major grant reached Fordham, it went to someone else.

“Dr. Michelle Sizemore won a $10,000 classroom makeover at our annual future of learning summit in Birmingham,” Daniel Whitt, learning innovations Director for Ed Farm, said. “And since she didn’t have a classroom, she took entries from her teacher fellows or our teacher fellows throughout the school system and we had a tough road ahead of us to figure out which one deserved it the most.”

The scholarship winner was chosen through video submissions from many Dougherty County teachers. WALB learned Fordham was picked for one reason in particular.

“She really has a vision for where she wants to take the future of her classroom,” Whitt said. “And she has a really good vision for how she wants to infuse technology and use this money in a way that’s truly gonna benefit kids in this community.”

As for what she plans to do with the money, Fordham already has some ideas in mind.

“What I plan on doing with it is making a thing called a ‘Mini Makers Space’,” Fordham said. “And a ‘Mini Makers Space’ is a place where you can create. That would include things like 3D printers, lasers. We have our MacBooks so that they can edit video software. Just things that get them really in touch with their creative side.”

Both Whitt and Fordham will work directly together to decide how to spend the money for the upcoming school year which starts August 1.

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