When Leann Fuller's name was called as White County Teacher of the Year, it was like someone had hit the pause button and everything stopped temporarily. Everyone around her — the other worthy nominees, people in the bleachers — were clapping and shouting.
But she hesitated, looked down at the program in her lap as if it had all the answers. She could see her name there, then realized the wonderful thing she’d heard.
“I just remember thinking, ‘I wonder who it could be,'" recalls Fuller, an art teacher at Testnatee Gap Elementary School.
She might have been the only surprised person in the White County Middle School gym, rocking now with loud joy. But no one was more joyful than the surprised winner.
“When it finally sank in, I was shocked to hear my name,” says Fuller, whose teaching journey reflects her passion for children and creativity.
"Kids have always had a place in my heart," she explains, now that she has touched the lives of hundreds of kids.
Her path to teaching was influenced by her parents. Her mother, Lisa Wade, is a retired teacher from White County Middle School. And her father, Tim Wade, who died 13 years ago, always believed she would excel in education.
“I like to think my calm nature comes from my father,” says Fuller, who seems to have absorbed her mother’s dedication to the craft. “Watching her answer phone calls from students throughout the week, with questions about schoolwork, was always inspiring to me.”
Leann started her career in pre-K and quickly moved to special education at Mossy Creek Elementary. She spent the next nine years working with special needs students from kindergarten through sixth grade.
But her love for art and for connecting with children eventually led her to become an art teacher, where she now works with all 480 students in her school.
"I like to think I have a big heart, and I have a lot of love to give," Fuller says. "Kids need as much love as they can get."
It’s a philosophy that shines through in her teaching approach. Take her recent Claude Monet project, in which fifth-graders created clay water lilies.
"I felt like, where they are right now in the school year, they're not going to be engaged with just another painting," she reasons. “So now, my students not only created beautiful artwork, but also learned about Impressionism and art history.”
Fuller's teaching style has always been deeply personal. She remembers a moment with a third-grade class, when they were all reading The Wild Robot together.
“I got so emotional over the book, I cried — much to my students’ amusement. They didn’t let me forget that,” she says, chuckling. And now, years later, those same students still reach out — she even saw the movie adaptation of the book with her former charges.
She sees her teaching life as a profound kind of mission: “Find the good in every day and try to be the light,” she says, repeating the advice she gives new teachers, before expanding on the metaphor. “Think of one person bringing light to the darkness, with that light gradually spreading. That’s how I see it.”
With 18 years of experience as an educator, Fuller has learned that teaching is about more than academics.
"You see your students more than you see your own family," says Fuller, whose days start with morning duty in the gym, where she receives countless hugs that never fail to transform her mood and remind her why she loves the gig. “It’s amazing what hugs from kids can do for the rest of your day.”
From designing wedding signs as a young calligrapher to now guiding students through artistic discoveries, Fuller has always found her joy in creativity. She sees the classroom as a exploration space, where students can take ownership of their education and express themselves freely.
As White County's Teacher of the Year, Leann Fuller represents the best of public education.
“Teaching is a lot about building relationships,” she says. “It’s more than just imparting knowledge.”