When motivation perpetually moves you forward and passion inspires your path, there's no stopping the impact of that momentum. It is truly a significant occurrence when those attributes and that compassionate momentum bring service completely full circle.
Felicia Montgomery gazes upon the modern hallways of Main Elementary, recalling her years as a child at East Central and North Heights, and just how different the structure and the opportunities are. One thing has remained, however, and it’s the very thing that has brought her back to her stomping ground to give back...family.
Montgomery currently serves as a special education teacher at Main Elementary, specializing in inclusion and behavior support.
Playing school with her friends as a young girl was foreshadowing for her dream of one day becoming a teacher. However, her passion led her down a different path before revisiting her first love.
By the time Montgomery graduated from Rome High School in 1998, she had most definitely dedicated herself to many passions and priorities, an early look at her strong motivational tendencies. She played clarinet in the band from sixth grade through high school, while simultaneously cheerleading and running track.
With mental health on her mind and heart after graduation, Montgomery went on to pursue a bachelor’s degree in psychology at Albany State University (graduated 2003). “I started out working in family and children's services right out of college,” she said, “but I knew I needed to get back to something I loved, so I revisited my childhood dream of becoming a teacher.”
She then completed the Georgia Teacher Academy for Preparation and Pedagogy (TAPP) program and started teaching in 2007. For 12 of her years, she worked for the Georgia Networks for Educational and Therapeutic Support (GNETS), serving students with emotional and behavior disorders. In 2019, Montgomery received her Master’s in Special Education from Walden University and has finished her Tier 1 Educational Leadership Certification with Albany State University this year. She is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Theta Omicron Omega Chapter. Alpha Kappa Alpha’s mission is to cultivate and encourage high scholastic and ethical standards, to promote unity and friendship among college women, to study and help alleviate problems concerning girls and women to improve their social stature, to maintain a progressive interest in college life, and to be of “Service to All Mankind.”
With three years’ experience working with RCS, Montgomery can’t help but recall the influential teachers throughout her school days that supported and inspired her dream of teaching.
From her days at North Heights, she expressed gratitude for the influence of Janet Morris (third grade), Connie Wilson (fourth grade), and Sandra Camp (fifth grade).
Impacting her through her years at Rome High, she recalls her gratitude for track coach Allen Gossett, band director Skip Stubblefield, language arts teacher Greg Spoon, social studies teacher Jennifer Perkins, as well as Mary Holcomb and Phillip Wood.
Montgomery carries fond memories from her years within the RCS system; the fondest of which are of friendships. As she was one of the first classes to attend Rome Middle School when it was brand new, she remembers the feeling of two, once rivaled, schools transitioning into a unified school. “I feel like it brought our community together as a whole,” she recalled. “We had to drop the East versus West Rome idea and become one Rome.”
Being back in the RCS family, she appreciates the diversity of the system, as well as the unrivaled familiarity. “A lot of the students I encounter here,” she said, “I either grew up with their mother or their grandmothers even; there’s just a sense of family.”
Throughout her day at Main Elementary, Montgomery can be found working in many different capacities and with multiple subjects, however, most of her time is spent working with the behavior support class.
“That’s basically my background,” she said. “I’m strong in behavior modification and behavior interventions. Through my work with GNETS, I have experience working in self-contained classrooms with students to improve areas of social and emotional behavior so that they may return to mainstream classrooms with their peers.”
Montgomery knows that the students she works with need the attention and guidance of their teachers; motivation and empowerment are paramount.
“The most impactful thing is to help students get through their day and to manage through emotions that would otherwise hinder their day,” Montgomery explained. “I want them to know that they can get through whatever it is that is hindering them. I want them to know that nothing no outside factor controls them, they have the power, and they can manage this journey, day by day.”
Montgomery is married to a fellow Rome Wolf, Kerry Montgomery. They have two boys, the youngest is a sixth grader at East Central Elementary and the oldest is a sophomore at Rome High.
Currently, Montgomery furthers her education even still as she works toward completing her Educational Specialist in Instructional Technology in the summer of 2022 from the University of West Georgia. Her motivation never wanes, as she continues to serve the children and families of her own hometown.
“I look forward to growing and impacting the lives of children for years to come.”
Go Wolves!
