Schofield teacher says goodbye to students

When the two boys came into Helen Richard's office at Schofield Middle School last week, she thought they were trying to get out of a keyboarding class.

"They just came by to say thank you," said the career specialist, who left the school district Friday and is relocating to Tennessee with her family. "It's so hard to say goodbye. It's such a great community and great people."

For the past five years Richard has brought charm and passion and a vivid smile in helping middle school kids get motivated and prepared for the world of work. She spent four years at Paul Knox Middle School before moving to Schofield last fall.

A native of Ridgeway near Columbia, Richard got her degree in microbiology from Clemson University. Ironically, she said she would have chosen counseling or education if career assessments had been available then. After moving to Aiken with her husband Antonio in the 1990s, Richard worked for several years on prevention issues with the Aiken Center for Alcohol and Drug Services.

When the South Carolina General Assembly approved the Education and Economic Development Act (EEDA), the Aiken County School District began hiring career specialists.

When Richard was hired, "I really felt I had found my niche," she said. "After arriving at Paul Knox, I asked the kids to define greatness, and they would say having a car or a house. I wanted them to know that greatness was about working hard and setting goals."

Career-based activities for kids have to be hands-on to make them interesting, said Richard. She held lunches for eighth-graders and brought in people from a variety of fields, including engineers, so the kids could see they were not nerds but were cool people who loved to build and create things.

Her students at Paul Knox and later at Schofield visited the Bridgestone tire plant. Over the past school year, Richard and teachers identified girls interested in reading and brought in a children's author to talk with them. She took Schofield boys on a tour of USC Aiken "so they would understand they have the potential to go to a two-year or four-year college."

In recent months, Richard collaborated with 17 Shaw Industries executives on a mentoring project. They met with Schofield boys twice a month and hosted the boys at the plant two weeks ago for lunch and conversation about the boys' futures.

"We have been so blessed to have people so willing to give back," Richard said.

Her husband, who previously worked on the MOX project at the Savannah River Site, has accepted an executive position with the Tennessee Valley Authority. They will move to the Chattanooga area with their three children.

"I know I'll be active in my kids' schools," Richard said. "We have different seasons in our lives, and I believe we'll be back some day."

Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.