Moultrie Middle School is an amazing place to learn, but as students, we don’t know the full perspective of the other side of the school, the staff. For the past week, we have been looking into the views of the staff at Moultrie by interviewing them. We have asked each of the following staff members why they love Moultrie and chose to work here. Note that some of these interviews have been shortened.

First, we talked to our fine arts teachers, Mr. Mumford and Mrs. Arroyo. When asked, Mr. Mumford replied, “Moultrie strives to maintain a positive environment, which makes it a wonderful place to work. I know I will always have good students and coworkers at Moultrie. I moved to Moultrie because I knew that the community and the school were big supporters of the arts, like band.” 

Our other music teacher, Mrs. Arroyo, has similar views, “I love my orchestra students and the orchestra community because the students value leadership, excellence, and community. I've always dreamed of teaching at a Mt. Pleasant school. I would see fine arts teachers in Mt. Pleasant with a great community and resources for a thriving program. When this job opened up, I had to get it!”

  

Next, we looked at the views of some teachers. The 7th-grade math teacher and teacher of the year, Mrs. Baker, shares her answer, "Moultrie has a lot of fun traditions, also many fun field trips and events throughout the year. Additionally, Moultrie feels like a family among the staff. Moultrie is a neighborhood middle school that has consistently scored well on its report cards. It's a school that represents its community well. I knew from its reputation that I wanted to be a part of Moultrie. Being nominated and voted as teacher of the year by my colleagues was the biggest honor of my career. Moultrie has been ranked #1 middle school in South Carolina many times while teaching here, and it's because of the way the teachers work together." 

Then, one of the 6th-grade math teachers, Mr. Lee, shares, "I enjoy my coworkers and think it's a lot of fun to go teach with people I'm friends with. The kids are fun and bring different energy to each class. I didn't know if teaching was for me, but I discovered I loved it after serving a 2-year amendment with Teach for America. I saw an opening and wanted to go back to a place that I loved. Mt. Pleasant is a community I grew up in, and I wanted a chance to be back in the same place with kids living a similar life, so I wanted to be here."

Finally, one of the special needs teachers, Mrs. Hills, answers, "I love Moultrie; I went to Moultrie 20-something years ago. It’s wonderful to come back. We can walk to the grocery store, restaurants, that kind of thing [as a class]. And the school is so accepting of my students, which is wonderful. I choose to teach at Moultrie because of the opportunities that are around Moultrie. It's a great program, and we have so much support, especially from the PTA, which is great. The kids in this program are amazing. They are some of the best kids you will ever meet, some of the sweetest and kindest."

        These interviews were only a scratch on the surface of the wonderful community established here at Moultrie. As you can see from above, Moultrie is an amazing place to come to work and learn.