“Anitra is Everything.”: Lincoln Elementary’s Teacher of the Year

Anitra Ritchie’s drive to nurture and educate children is instinctive. She first followed this calling as mother of her children– a role she cherishes. But once her youngest child was in school, a persistent itch to do more tugged at her. Within weeks, she had secured a part-time job in a resource classroom at her local elementary school. 

 

Ritchie loved her work and found it deeply fulfilling, but after a few years, she felt “somewhat…lost.” She found herself wondering, Is this all I was meant for? The question lodged in her heart. Before the day was out, she had signed up for Western Governors University’s online education program. 

 

“I didn’t even talk about it with my husband!” she laughed. “I was just like, I need to do this while I’m thinking about it. And then during dinner, I told him, “So, I just enrolled in school.”

 

With characteristic determination, Ritchie threw herself into her studies. “Everywhere I went, my laptop came with me,” she said. “I did school everywhere.” When she was finished, her tidy plans to teach first grade part-time were derailed. They needed her in kindergarten– full-time. She took the job six years ago and has never looked back.

 

Ritchie’s commitment to her students has been apparent to Lincoln principal Audrey McKell from the very beginning. “Anitra is everything,” she beamed. Lincoln, a Title I school, serves one of the highest-need student populations in the valley, and McKell credits Ritchie as an instrumental force in shaping the lives of her young students. She became visibly emotional as she discussed Ritchie’s impact.

 

“Anitra feels the weight of the work that she does deeply,” McKell said. “She knows that when she’s teaching children to read, she’s helping to break the chains of generational poverty. And when she looks at their little faces, she sees world-changers. She shows up every day to equip them with the foundational skills they need in order to build the world that we all want to live in.”

 

 

 

Ritchie acknowledged the sometimes difficult nature of her work. “Don't get me wrong; it's exhausting at times,” she admitted. Then her trademark optimism broke through. “But also, it’s fun! Every kid that I get has taught me how to be a better teacher and a better human. There are just so many different rewarding things that are in kindergarten. It may look like the circus sometimes, but it's a magical circus.”

 

Principal McKell highlighted Ritchie’s ability to be fully present with her students in moments big and small. “Anitra believes in the mission,” she shared. “She savors the connection. She’s quick to smile and laugh, and she truly enjoys the magical, messy, beautiful work of being a kindergarten teacher.”

 

Ritchie does enjoy it. In fact, she considers her students some of her dearest friends. “I learn a ton from 5 and 6-year-olds,” she laughed. “My husband always makes fun of me. He’s like, ‘Go have fun with your friends!’” She sobered then. “They teach me what the world is really about. It’s about kindness. Just being kind.”

 

Anitra claims that her students are the ones teaching such valuable life lessons. However, it is obvious to anyone who spends time in her kindergarten classroom that the students simply reflect their teacher’s example. What a beautiful legacy.