Brooke Wedgworth is the director of curriculum and instruction for Vestavia Hills City Schools.
Q: How long have you been working in education?
A: I’ve been in education since 1998. That’s when I started teaching in a middle school. I taught middle school math and then got hired in the Vestavia school system and started teaching in an elementary school. I taught fourth and fifth grade at Central, then third grade at Liberty Park and stayed home for a couple years. And I was a part-time interventionist at Cahaba Heights Elementary doing interventions from preschool through fifth grade. Then I came back into the school system full-time and taught third grade at Cahaba Heights. And then I was a curriculum director – this will be my 13th year.th year. And I also worked for the state’s ARI (Alabama Reading Initiative) department for a couple of years. I traveled around the state and did teacher training for them.
Q: What originally inspired you to enter the education field?
A: My mother, who was a high school teacher. I met several teachers throughout her life, especially my third grade teacher. Teaching was everything to her. She created a community, invested in her students, and that was really her whole life. She inspired me so much to be a teacher that I left school in third grade and went home to teach my stuffed animals. I tried other majors in college for about a year and then decided that I was going to do what I was meant to do, which was teach.
Q: Have you ever dreamed of doing something different?
A: I did. I thought I was going to be a broadcaster. Then I realized neither of those things were for me. I’ve worked with children my whole life – babysitting, church daycare, summer camps, volunteering with the Special Olympics. I knew working with children was my passion.
Q: What might most people not know about you?
A: I have three boys – (including) twins who are going to college soon. And then I have two stepdaughters. One of them is going to college soon. We have a farm. I like to spend time on the farm fishing, hiking and things like that.
Q: What do you love about the farm?
A: Just getting away from the city and away from everything that distracts you. It’s just good to get away and relax, be with my family, be outside and not have to worry about what’s on TV or what’s happening on my phone. It’s just easy to get away and forget about all those things.
Q: Can you imagine living on a farm at some point in the future when you reach retirement age or not?
A: No, I probably won’t live there. Maybe I’ll spend more time there. Maybe I’ll live on the beach and start my second career.
