MCSD Teacher of The Year makes lasting impact

BENNETTSVILLE— There are certain teachers that you don’t forget. And Marlboro County School District Teacher of The Year, Karlada Perkins, is one of them.

Perkins was selected as the district teacher of the year. An honor she wasn’t expecting.

“Honestly, I didn’t feel worthy of the title,” she said frankly. “I know what I do is important and I like to support and I like to let music push and drive 0ther areas. I was like there has to be someone in the classroom that has great EOC scores and really making a difference in those areas. And also, I really don’t like the spotlight.”

But when her name was announced as the teacher of the year, she said she had to fight back tears. “I was shocked. I was standing there trying not to cry because I’m a big cry baby. I appreciate my coworkers, my peers and the district choosing me for teacher of the year, that really means a lot. While I don’t feel like I’m worthy, they do.”

And to her, that means a lot.

Perkins, a music educator and the director of Marlboro County High School band, may not like the spotlight, but she certainly teaches her music students how to win center stage. Since 2019, the MCHS Jazz Band has been winning superior awards at competitions across the state. And for a band, superior is the highest rating in a competition.

She’s going into her 17th year of teaching and seventh year in Marlboro County. Spending time watching Perkins at band practice, it’s not hard to understand why she received the honor of teacher of the year. As she’s going over a new song with the band, she patient in her teaching. As she sees a bit of a struggle with picking up the right notes, hitting the proper beat, Perkins slows things down until every section catches on the the rhythm. The has them lower their instruments and tap their feet and clap their hands to get used to the notes and the count.

What you don’t see while watching is any student not following Perkins instructions. So, when the band raises their horns to try again, it’s still not perfect. But Perkins shows now sign of frustration, she reminds her students that they just started playing the song today and when she asks if they will be ready to play it by Friday, a resounding yes erupts from the students. They play the ending again, each time getting better. Perkins points out what’s wrong and how to fix it. They start over. The band sounds even better. And Perkins has the group take it from the top. By the sounds of things, the band will definitely be ready of Friday.

Perkins said music education keeps students up and moving and helps them with critical thinking skills.

“I tell them all the time, you got to retain the information. You have to remember this information and you have to be able to apply this information from one setting to the next,” she said. “Here I’m teaching you a basic eight note scales. But over here I’m taking the scare and mixing it up and you have to recognize it in a different form. It keeps them thinking …it keeps them alert.”

Listening to Perkins talk about music and conduct her students, it should be no surprise that she comes from a musical family.

“Everybody in my family sings. My dad and a couple of my aunts play a couple of instruments. But I kind of was a little more reserved and shy than they were. But I sing and I still sing back up if they make me. But as talented as they were, no one ever went to college for it,” she said.

Perkins said she followed in her family’s footsteps through high school joining the choir, getting on the band. And she was good at it, too.

“My aunt in Georgia, she was an all state clarinet player,” she said. “So I picked my one aunt and I was going to show her that I could do the same thing she did. I was constantly going places, being in honor bands, being in jazz bands. I played in the Olympic band so I was in the opening and closing ceremony of the 1996 Olympics. When it came to the 11th and 12th grade when it was time for college, I didn’t want to do nothing else.”

Perkins said she almost joined the United States Marine Corps to be a part of the storied Marine band and possibly following in her father’s footsteps (he’s a Marine). But she said she didn’t want to go through the basic training. “So, I went to college for music education,” she said.

Perkins attended Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. She marched in the storied Marching 100 at FAMU, playing saxophone. And though she thought about changing her major, Perkins found her way right back to music education.

And she’s stayed in the field for so long because she cares about her students.

“I love to see my students going to their various places. And I’ve been teaching so long that my kindergarten babies are graduating from high school. And I see some of them and they’re like I remember you Mrs. Perkins, I remember you teaching us those beats.”

And that’s the stuff that makes a teacher worthy.