Felicia Akuamoah stands with a $1,000 check as a prize for becoming one of the 16 2019-2020 Teachers of the Year in Los Angeles County, Calif.

MOULTRIE, Ga. — The Colquitt County School System will name its Teacher of the Year Nov. 7, but Moultrie has already provided another system with one of its top teachers.

Moultrie native Felicia Akuamoah became one of 16 Teachers of the Year in Los Angeles County, Calif., Sept. 20 at the annual Teacher of the Year banquet hosted by the county’s Superintendent of Schools Debra Duardo.

Duardo said all 16 are extraordinary.

“These individuals are the heart and soul of a good education, each day instilling a love of learning and inspiring our young people to reach their full potential,” Duardo said in a Sept. 18 statement.

And in Akuamoah’s “extraordinary” case, her “classroom is a place where our most underserved students feel safe to be themselves, to open up and connect with each other and with her,” according to her quote of note from Sept. 18 statement.

She leads the Paramount Park Leadership Academy, an intervention course addressing social, emotional and academic needs of struggling students at Paramount Park Middle School in Paramount, Calif. It was a definite need when she founded it in 2015, and it still is, she said.

“It’s not something that’s really addressed when you become a teacher, but it’s definitely something we deal with all the time,” Akuamoah said. “It’s something that everybody’s trying to get a grasp on and I’ve been very successful with it for the past four years.”

Though she feels this is what led her to win, she honestly didn’t expect it. Her focus was making sure her students — her kids — were getting the best education they could.

Becoming a Teacher of the Year was unreal.

“Out of 82,000 teachers, you’re one of 16,” she said to herself on-stage. “It really didn’t hit until I was standing on the stage and I was starting to cry.”

To reference Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ she’s “just a small town girl” from Moultrie, Georgia, a town with one high school in the entire county.

Born to Robert and Esther Daniels, Akuamoah was raised in Moultrie. She graduated from Colquitt County High School, and, in 1994, went to Savannah State University majoring in English, graduating in 1998.

Teaching would come later as dreams of singing professionally came to mind.

With a mindset of “Why not? I’m still young,” she made the move to California in 2002. She was glad to know her parents had her back.

“They knew I was the strange kid in the family, so I always had the support,” she said. “So, I left Savannah to come here and sing and act.”

She needed some extra money after the move and decided to use her English degree to become a substitute teacher at Paramount Park Middle School in 2003.

Akuamoah would end up becoming a regular to a class of students noted as having “cooperation issues” when a friend got an acting break on “The Parkers.”

“She couldn’t keep her job and so she was like ‘Do you want to sub for my class?’ I was like sure,” she said.

Little did she know, the principal, Kevin Longworth, was noticing her ability to break through teacher-student barriers. It got to the point where he couldn’t deny her strengths and had to offer her a full-time position.

“I was subbing for her class and while the principal came to check on me [and] he said, ‘You know you’re a teacher?’” she regaled. “I said, ‘Yeah, I’m not.’ [and] he was like ‘No, you really are.’”

Akuamoah tried denying herself, but eventually gave in. Longworth told her if she could get her master’s degree in a year and half, he’ll give her a full-time teaching position.

And so, in 2006, she finished her master’s degree in Education: Cross-cultural Teaching from National University. She also earned her state teaching credential and supplemental credential in English.

Akuamoah wouldn’t stay at Paramount Park for too much longer and would leave the school in 2007, taking short gigs at Morena Unified and other charter schools.

In 2016, she got a call from Longworth asking her to return to Paramount Park Middle School to an open position. There wasn’t a job description, but Longworth had an idea that was essentially a “life coach for middle school.”

The holder would get to know students, their parents and everything in-between intimately. It was a bridging measure that Akuamoah was perfect for.

“He asked me to come back because of the population of students he felt needed a person on-campus who could be a counselor, a mom, or a teacher whose credentials could help them make it through all the things they need,” she said. “But also, be that teacher who does not excuse or overlook any trauma or any other life difficulties that they may be having that impact their ability to be successful academically.”

The position eventually became part of the Paramount Park Leadership Academy and a precursor to her future as a teacher of the year.

Akuamoah’s in her 16th year of teaching and doesn’t plan on stopping. She continues her goal of making sure her students are better mentally, emotionally and academically.

She and the 15 other teachers of the year received a $1,000 cash gift from the California Credit Union. They will compete statewide this fall. Come November, five statewide teachers of the year will be chosen, but only one will represent California in the National Teacher of the Year contest in spring 2020.