Lucretia Smith - Ready to Start her Career as an Elementary School Teacher

As a child, Lucretia Smith’s favorite game was playing school with her two sisters, and she was always the teacher.

“Teaching is something I’ve always wanted to do,” said Smith, whose grandmother predicted her future career path. “I love kids. If there’s a child in need, I am there to the rescue.”

She’s been preparing herself ever since second grade, when she started working with children with disabilities. “I really enjoyed helping the special education teachers,” said Smith.

“By spending time with those students, it taught me that not all people are alike. I treasured helping those who were not able to do the same things that I could.”

Since then, Smith has been an active volunteer and dedicates her spare time to helping both children and adults with disabilities through the Greenville Special Olympics. She has also tutored at the Little Willie Center and been a club leader at the Boys and Girls Club.

“It is very hard for me to back down from doing volunteer or service work because I like giving my time to make someone smile,” she said.

East Carolina University will award Smith with her degree in elementary education on Dec. 19, but one crucial test almost forced her to switch her major.

“It took me a long time to pass the Praxis, which is a test that all education majors have to take,” said Smith. “I was always just two or three points away from passing with the required score of 522.”

But this didn’t hold Smith back for long. After encouragement from her father and advisor, Paige Everett, she persevered. Smith took the test for the final time and passed with a score of 523. “It only takes one point,” she said.

Smith is completing her senior internship in a fifth grade classroom in Greene County, where she spends over eight hours a day teaching English, language arts, math, science and social studies.

After graduation, Smith plans to start teaching right away. With already two elementary school teaching job offers and more interviews lined up, she is anxious to teach in her own classroom. “I’m ready to spread my wings,” she said.

For the full story, please see Lucretia’s entire Pirate Profile