She is also

the former teacher of White Oak's 2001 Teacher of the Year, Laura Hightower.

Strickland,

a third-grade teacher at White Oak, taught both Terrell and Hightower

in first grade at Elm Street Elementary School during her first two years

as a teacher. Terrell and Hightower, in turn, teach first grade at their

schools.

"Nancy

Royal was also my first-grade teacher, so I had a good foundation,"

quipped Terrell. Royal was Coweta County's 1992 Teacher of the Year and

the 1993 Georgia Teacher of the Year.

Hightower said

Strickland had a strong impact on her when she was in her first-grade

class in 1979. "She was a wonderful teacher. I remember wanting to

kiss the ground she walked on."

Strickland's

students have had as big an impact on her. Meeting with Hightower and

Terrell at Elm Street, the three reminisced recently about where their

room was and recalled their classmates.

Strickland

produced a scrapbook that had photos of every class since she began teaching

at Elm Street in 1979. It included a picture of a six-year-old Terrell

in pigtails, and Strickland in her class photo.

The three picked

out other students, and Strickland told stories of who was in what college,

or in law school, or who was marrying whom.

Montie Strickland

takes pride in her students, but is particularly happy her former pupils

have been named their schools' Teacher of the Year.

"I know

it has made their mamas proud, and it's made me proud, too."

Terrell and

Hightower credit Strickland, among others, with their desire to become

teachers.

"I probably

chose to become a teacher based on my previous experiences throughout

school," said Terrell, who is in her fifth year of teaching.

"I was

fortunate to have excellent teachers as a student and their kindness and

compassion is probably what led me to become a teacher. I want to continue

the tradition."

"Plus,

it was in my blood," said Hightower, who has taught at White Oak

for three years, after several years at Jefferson Parkway Elementary.

With her mother,

father, uncle, a grandmother and others serving as teachers before her,

"my whole family is in education, so I was predestined," she

said.