ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - Every month, WALB News 10 recognizes a South Georgia teacher who goes well beyond their job description. We call it our A+ Educator of the Month.

Anita Moody has taught music at Sherwood Acres for the past nine years, but she is also the lead music teacher for the Dougherty County School System.

Anita only sees each class once a week for 50 minutes. During that small window of time, she teaches the concepts and history of music and even gives her students the chance to compose their own.

Anita firmly believes that music is the foundation of anything relating to academics.

“Music is literacy. I can teach a child to read just through music. I’m not just talking about reading lines and spaces, but they’re reading the score. Music is math. I can teach notes and duration and teach them how to count the number of beats in each measure. When we talk about science, we mention the sound of music. Where did the sound come from? How did it happen,” said Moody.

Moody’s favorite part of teaching is seeing that lightbulb go off in her student’s heads when they finally understand.

“Some students get it so quick, but it’s that one child that that you can see the struggle, but they don’t want to tell you that they’re struggling. So then, when they finally get it, and it’s like, whoa! It’s immaculate. It’s just, it’s like, no other feeling, really,” said Moody.

Teaching music to elementary students is not for the weak. The classroom can get noisy and chaotic when multiple children are playing instruments and singing songs, but Anita doesn’t mind.

“It’s supposed to be like that! That’s where they’re able to hear themselves, and that’s whether they can, they can take their time and be able to unique their style and their talent. If you have no chaos, you have no music room!” Moody said.

If you know an exceptional teacher that you would like to see recognized as an A+ Educator, click here to submit your nomination.

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