Rider is not the only thing coming to an end. So are six of Rider’s staff members’ careers in education; in some amazing way, they have all impacted the school.
Lesa Fletcher
Before coming to Rider and being the attendance clerk for 14 years, Fletcher was at an elementary school in Azle for two years. While doing hairdressing on the side, she puts in orders for the school, covers the front desk once a month, makes sure all the classes are covered, hand-entering attendance from substitutes and runs the daily verification of enrollment.
Fletcher finds the best part of her job is the people she meets.
“It is a mixture of who you work with, leaders in your school and the kids,” Fletcher said.
Jan Albin
A Rider graduate and a loyal Raider, Albin has been a part of Rider staff for 26 years and has stayed for the entirety of her career. Albin went from attendance clerk for 10 of those years to the reception office for 13 years and now the discipline office. She has been around it all.
Albin has had a long line of Raiders in her family. Her sister is an original Raider from when the school first opened, a graduate herself, her son, and many nieces and nephews.
The Rider students hold a special place in Albin’s heart and the staff is a family to her. As a staff member, Albin has loved being a part of everything Rider has stood for.
“I have believed even before OFOT that we were a family, a team,” Albin said.
Sonja Gandy
Gandy has been in education for 40 years, the last seven as a Rider SPED counselor. Gandy writes IEPs, tracks a student’s progress through grades and attendance, provides counseling and goes wherever teachers put her.
Gandy finds the best part of her job to be seeing one of her students walk across the graduation stage.
“You know that they are going to have a better life if special education had not been a part of their education,” Gandy said.
Todd Chamberlain
The head girls basketball coach and a U.S. History teacher, Chamberlain has been an educator for 29 years. 18 years were spent at Rider, while another five were at Iowa Park. Chamberlain spends time preparing his U.S. History students for the EOC test. He also creates schedules and runs practices for his players.
Chamberlain has been able to work alongside his wife for a while and his son for the last two years at Rider. His son has been his assistant coach for these two years while his wife teaches English.
“It has been great,” Chamberlain said. “I have also been able to teach all three of my kids. I have had them all in class.”
Chamberlain finds the best part of his job to be games, practices and making his class fun for the kids. He likes building a rapport with them and they keep him young.
Vicki Spaulding
Spaulding has been in the education department for 30 years and a full-time SPED inclusionist for 15.
Spaulding started as a substitute all over, subbing at elementary schools, junior highs and high schools, subbing at Rider for six years before becoming a full-time inclusion for SPED.
Spaulding does inclusion for the history department and the government and economics, helping kids with tests/retests and in class and assisting the testing coordinators with other testing.
Spaulding finds the best part of her job is when a student thanks her for helping and encouraging them even though they may have a learning disability.
“They can overcome that with a little help and they end up graduating or moving on,” Spaulding said.
Phyllis Wright
Wright has been in education for 50 years and has been at Rider for 31. She taught all over, including in towns like Archer City, Qunnah and Crowell. While at Rider, she has been working with students to help them catch up on credits and be ready to graduate.
Wright joined education because of her mother. Wright and her two younger sisters all became teachers because of their mother.
One of her favorite things about working at Rider is her students, who not only work hard, but are also very protective of their teacher and are willing to defend her.
“That makes them so special to me that they care about me to come to school and straggle through this and get graduated,” Wright said.
