For the past 12 years, Bethany Phillips has been a language arts teacher at Buford High School, the very place where her love for literature and theater began.
Phillips credits the trajectory of her teaching career to Dr. Tim Harris, who was her teacher in high school and now serves as the director of Curriculum and Instruction for Buford City Schools.
“My two years spent in Advanced Placement (AP) Language and Composition and AP Literature and Composition with Dr. Harris really shaped my future. His class was the first academic class I experienced that was innovative and fresh, and showed me what education could be like. He made his classroom a home and a safe space for discussion, which was huge for 16- and 17-year olds who were just starting to figure out who they were and wanted to be,” Phillips said. “We were always learning, but we were always having fun while doing it, and literature really came alive for me in his classroom. I’m fortunate to have had him as a teacher, and as a colleague.”
Dr. Harris was quick to share his memories of Phillips in high school as well, as he was not only her English teacher but was also a co-teacher for musical theater.
“When I reflect on Bethany as a student, I remember her being vibrant and engaged, bringing energy and focus to the classroom and the school as a whole. She was a skilled academic writer, equally adept at commenting upon prose, poetry, or dramatic literature,” Harris said. “In musical theater, Bethany distinguished herself as a leader; in fact, her peers selected her as president of the Thespian Society. Bethany’s leadership was evident not only in her performances — which were always exceptional — but also in her work ethic and attitude.”
And now, Phillips is serving the community she loves, teaching AP literature for seniors and 10th grade world literature. Additionally, Phillips sponsors the Buford Leadership Team and Buford’s panel for the Gwinnett Student Leadership Team, while also serving as a cheer coach and frequently assisting with the theater and dance departments.
When she was a student at BHS, Phillips was not only heavily involved with musical theater but was also a regular participant in One Act competitions, a high school theatrical event where groups of student actors perform short plays that consist of only one act and are judged against each other based on their acting, technical elements and overall production quality.
“I remember really loving that entire process, even though we never made it out of the regional competition back then,” Phillips said. “It was just always such a special time.”
In addition to her time spent in theater, Phillips shared her vocal and dance talents as a performer in the choral department and annual Variety Shows.
“I was actually awarded ‘Outstanding Performer’ in chorus my 9th (through) 12th grade years because of the Variety Show,” Phillips said. “The Variety Show was always a blast with our dance rehearsals during the school day, and the way that the Buford Community as a whole showed up for those performances was always incredible.”
Phillips also maintained a 4.0 GPA while taking honors and AP classes and was a member of multiple academic honors clubs and societies, including Beta Club, National Honor Society and Thespian Society. Her high school success allowed her to attend Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, where she completed both her undergraduate and graduate degrees.
Today, when she’s not backstage helping with various performances for dance, chorus or theater, she keeps busy with her husband Isaac and their four children — Kinley, 5, Fallon, 2, and 1-year-old twin boys, Ryland and Declan, who all attend Buford schools and child care. The Philips family attends Gwinnett Church and Brittany and Isaac serve as sixth grade small-group leaders. If she finds any spare time, Phillips is either reading a book, snuggled up with one of her kids and watching a movie or enjoying time with friends.
As an English teacher at Buford, Phillips has taught nearly every level of English offered by the high school and her students are reaping the benefits of her hard work, passion and dedication to their success.
“As a teacher, Bethany was impressive right away with a commanding presence in the classroom. She also inherited the AP English Literature class from me when I left the classroom. Of late, her students’ scores have far exceeded mine on the challenging AP Exam as she has experienced an almost 100% pass rate over the past three years,” Harris said of Phillips’s contributions to Buford City Schools. “Another thing I appreciate about Bethany as a professional is that she rarely says no — she teaches, she stage manages for theater, she serves as one of the literary coaches, she coaches cheerleading, she is one of the sponsors of our student leadership program, and she serves the district as a ‘Lit Leader,’ preparing her colleagues for the rollout of the new ELA standards. She is an asset to her students, her colleagues, her school, her district, and her community.”
FEATURED PHOTO: Bethany Phillips with her husband Isaac and their four children. Photo courtesy of Bethany Phillips.
