Recently, Assistant Principal Amy Driggers announced that she would be transitioning to a new role at the district office: Director of Secondary Education and CATE Education.

“I will be working with all the middle schools and high schools on their programming, the courses, materials, teaching and instruction,” Driggers said.

Driggers has been at Chapman since 2006, so the decision to move anywhere, even just 10 minutes away, was not an easy one.

“I have worked here longer than I have lived in my hometown,” Driggers said.

Before becoming an educator, Driggers planned to become a physician. After a year of medical school, she knew that there was something different for her.

Her husband — Mabry social studies teacher Brent Driggers — worked at Chapman at the time, and she was offered a teaching job after a science teacher experienced a health crisis during the first semester.

“Once I did it, I was like, ‘This is where I belong,’” Driggers said.

After nearly a decade of teaching biology, anatomy and other science courses, Driggers moved to the role of instructional coach and then assistant principal.

Leaving the classroom wasn’t something she chose to do easily, but she relied on advice from a trusted person to help her make the decision.

“My dad told me once, ‘Can you help more kids in the room or outside of it?’” Driggers said.

Driggers decided to take her dad’s advice and pursue a position where she could help as many students and teachers as possible.

“The people here aren’t just co-workers or students,” she said. “They truly mean everything to me.”

The impact that Driggers has had on Chapman is unparalleled.

“A kid told me one time, ‘Mrs. Driggers, When you die there isn’t going to be enough room to hold all of these people,’” Driggers said.

Special education teacher Robert Gray has worked with Driggers since early in their careers,  and they maintain a strong personal and professional relationship.

“There wasn’t a week that went by when we were not connected,” Gray said.

One of their earliest bonding experiences was helping deal with misbehaviors.

“Coach Gray and I were out there being like thunder and lightning breaking up fights back in the old days,” Driggers said.

Gray said that he appreciates Driggers’ personality.

“She also has a sense of humor that just wins you over,” Gray said.

Gray is not the only close friend Driggers has made in her time at Chapman. Journalism teacher Alex Hollis, who coached wrestling with Driggers’ husband, is one of her closest friends and has said that he will miss having her in the building.

“I’ll definitely miss her laugh and her general presence and expectation of excellence that she has for the faculty and for the students of the school,” Hollis said. “Besides Mrs. Driggers being a fantastic friend, she is also an exceptional educator, and she is an exceptional leader.”

Principal Matt Davis, who has been a teacher, an assistant principal and principal while working with Driggers, agrees she’ll be missed.

“I’m going to miss being able to talk to her,” he said. “She lightens up a room.”

The fact that she is staying in the district makes her friends feel a little more comfortable about Driggers’ leaving but not having her in the building daily will be a drastic change.

“Some people are just hard to replace, and she is going to be one of those people,” Hollis said.

Continued on page 8

From page 1

It’s not just her colleagues who will miss her, though.

For much of her career, students have viewed Driggers as a mother figure. Even as her role has changed, that perception has not.

Senior Annabelle Blackwood is an example of a student who views Driggers fondly.

“I knew that I could always go into her office, and she would be there welcoming me with open arms,” Blackwood said.

Even though Driggers is technically moving to a district-level position, she hopes to be in schools as often as possible.

“The joy that I feel with kids and teachers every day is not something that I can understate,” she said. “I will make it my business to be in these schools as often as I can because it gives me life.”

Driggers is extremely thankful for all of her memories and experiences at Chapman.

“How many people get to say that they did something as a job that was built on love? Not many,” she said.

This year, the administration has referred to “The Family” when it comes to Chapman, and Driggers approaches the people here that way.

“We are all just people with very different needs and backgrounds, but the one thing that is constant is love,” she said.

Chapman will always have a special place in her heart, and as she ventures into this new part of her journey, she wants to leave Chapman with one final piece of advice:

“It’s true that you can do all things in love and that if you use that approach in your relationships with your families, your teachers, your coworkers, your classmates, this entire experience can be one of the most wonderful of your life.”