My name is Linda M. Kirksey. I have been an educator since 1974. I received a BA degree in History with minors in Psychology and sociology from Knoxville College in Knoxville, Tennessee. As an undergrad student I was adamant about not taking any education classes. I felt if I did then I would somehow wind up becoming a teacher; yet as fate would have it, my career as a teacher started at Bryson Middle School where I taught LD Resource for 23 years.
In 1996, I became a Special Education Coordinator. In this administrative position I aided middle and high school teachers, administrators, students, and parents for 15 years. I retired in June of 2010.
In January of 2011, I returned to the classroom as a self-contained teacher at Dorman High School in Spartanburg, SC. I retired again in May of 2015.
In August of 2015 I received an intriguing offer to become a long-term substitute teacher at Venice Group Home. I accepted the offer; In January of 2016, I was hired as the special education/location teacher for Venice Group Homes.
So, 46 years and two master’s degrees (Furman University: Special education and administrative leadership) later, I have to sum up my journey by saying how thankful I am to have traveled this road. It has led to many paths and beneficial experiences.
As I close, I must say that these last five years of working at Venice with severely at-risk students has truly been the most rewarding years of my career. I am so thankful that Larry Ertzberger, a true champion of students that others would deem as unteachable, gave me an opportunity to share in his vision and philosophy by showing unconditional love and wisdom to girls who had not learned to love themselves let alone trust their feelings to a stranger or dare try to be successful in the educational arena. This has been an unspoken ministry that will leave an everlasting imprint in my heart and soul forever.