Ms. Riddick is our crisis resource teacher and former special education teacher. In college, she majored in Mass Communications and minored in Journalism, graduating from Virginia State (a historically Black college). 

She describes her responsibilities as embedding social and emotional learning into South Lakes’ curriculum. She supports students if they’re having a difficult day or if they need help connecting to school resources such as counselors, clinicians or administrators.

She also supports teachers in a very unique way by “teaching the teachers more about how young adolescents’ minds think and process things.” She describes working in (comprehensive service sites) CSS as “a school inside of the school” for students who are considered part of the comprehensive site. In other words, she is the connection between the education system and families.

She feels that she has always been a crisis resource teacher in a way. Throughout her career she has always found ways to support students; it was her calling.

“I really work hard to get to know students that I get in contact with,” Riddick said. 

In her previous job as a special education teacher at South Lakes, she found that she didn’t have the time to really connect with students.

“Switching from being a special education teacher to a crisis resource teacher gave me a lot more freedom to do the work that I like to do,” Riddick said.

Not having a crisis resource teacher last year highlights how impactful she has been to students this year. A Senior at South Lakes explained the struggles students faced before having a crisis resource teacher:  

“There was nobody to talk to or a place to take breaks. It’s important for us to have people we can identify with and learn from and Ms. Riddick motivates us to be better and to open up our perspectives towards our futures.”

Students who felt unmotivated and discouraged to pursue higher careers or believed they weren’t going to pass their grades are finding encouragement through CSS. Now, students have an outlet and inspiration to dream bigger and aim higher.