Sandy Jungman has been teaching for 17 years, and a majority of her teaching career has been spent in a first-grade classroom, where she is now at Colham Ferry Elementary.

She loves first grade because it is a time of tremendous growth, and a time when children fully grasp the wonder of reading.

“At the beginning of the year, some children are reading well, some are just starting to read, and some are still struggling with reading,” she said. “But, by the end of the year, every student is reading.”

First-graders, Jungman said, are a little more independent than kindergarten students, but they still need a lot of nurturing, attention and structure.

“I have learned, over the years, to plan in short increments of time, and to keep students moving,” she explained. “It is structured moving, and you keep the students on task every minute.”

Besides utilizing lots of activities, Jungman also adds music and song to her classroom. It is a high-energy environment, but the veteran teacher said she never grows weary of the activity.

“I never tire of being with my kids,” she said. “That is one thing that never changes.”

Jungman has a secret weapon in fighting fatigue, one that would be the envy of many a working mother. Her husband, Monte, is in the restaurant business, and he does almost all of the cooking at home.

“I am very fortunate that my husband loves to cook,” she said, adding, “I am really fortunate that my husband does so many things at home. He is great.”

Her daughters, Taylor, 17, and Jordan, 11, are also helpful around the house, doing lots of chores to make sure mom does not get overwhelmed.

“Everyone pulls together in our family,” she said.

Recently, members of her family came to Colham Ferry Elementary to share in a special surprise for Jungman. On the morning news show, it was announced she had been voted the school’s Teacher of the Year.

“Even to be on the list of finalists is an honor,” she said.

It is certainly an honor she would have never envisioned when she was the age of the students she now teaches. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to teach when she was growing up in Texas, she just didn’t give a lot of thought to teaching at that point in her life.

She started college as a business major, but everything changed when she took a course in children’s literature.

After graduating from Texas Tech and Grand Canyon University, Jungman began teaching in Texas. She started her career in Oconee County when he husband’s job brought the family to Georgia.

Even though she didn’t give a great deal of thought to teaching when she was in first grade, she now daily savors the rewards of teaching young students.

“There is nothing in the world better,” she said, “than teaching a child to read.”

Mary Anne Carroll is a reporter for The Oconee Leader. She can be reached at 706-310-1104 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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