MADISON TOWNSHIP — For just over two decades, Jennifer Richards has nurtured young learners from the same corner classroom at Madison’s Eastview Elementary School.
Now, one of her very first students is back in the building, teaching kindergarten right across the hall.
Abbey Gray secured a job at Eastview last fall, teaching from her former first grade classroom.
“It was very weird for the first couple weeks to be an adult in the building, rather than a small child,” Gray said.
“It’s very weird, but in the best way, to be here with teachers that taught me. To work with them now, it’s an honor.”
Richards said it took her a few days to adjust to seeing Gray as a colleague as well, rather than the sweet but quiet kindergartener she knew.
“It was just a little awkward at the beginning, but it didn’t take long to see her as a colleague and a friend, too — even though I could be her mother,” Richards said. “She’s fantastic at what she does.”
Richards is one of several teachers from Gray’s time as a student who still work in the building. Eastview Principal Melissa Wigton was Gray’s sixth-grade teacher.
“It is exciting to have a former student come back to Eastview to teach,” Wigton said.
“It is an honor to have someone love the building so much that they are excited to come back and give back to future generations of the Madison community.”
‘She’s definitely giving me more confidence in my teaching’
Gray graduated from Madison Comprehensive High School in 2017. She took healthcare-focused career tech courses with the goal of becoming a pediatric nurse.
During her senior year, she realized the medical field wasn’t for her. Her advisor, who had noticed how helpful she was to fellow students, suggested she return to Eastview and shadow some teachers.
“I immediately thought of Mrs. Richards and then I went to my first grade teacher (Amy Weaver),” Gray said.
“Both of them have been a big inspiration to me,” she added. “Immediately after I left the school, I was like, ‘This is what I want to do.'”
A fourth-year educator, Gray said she’s still learning lessons from her teachers-turned-colleagues.
“This is my first year teaching kindergarten. You have to teach routine, schedules, expectations, all of those sort of things that older grades already know,” Gray said.
She said Richards has encouraged her to believe in herself.
“I think she’s definitely giving me more confidence in my teaching,” Gray said. “I know I can do it.”
