Mabry MS Teacher of the Year empowers students to say 'I can'

At Mabry Middle School, Leslie Ann McCoy worked to create a special class just for students to learn how to develop good study habits. Mabry MS Teacher of the Year

McCoy teaches a reading and study skills class designed to help students—especially those coming from elementary school—navigate the middle school landscape, with its multiple classes and teachers and other academic challenges.

She’s the current Mabry Teacher of the Year, and according to a release issued by the Cobb County School District, McCoy, a graduate of Walton High School, draws her inspiration from her own teachers, who wouldn’t let her students say “I can’t.”

“I tell the students when they come in the very first week, ‘I’m your number one cheerleader in this building, and all I want to do is set you up for success,’ ” she said in the release.

She’s truly a local product, having grown up in Marietta. After graduating from the University of Georgia, McCoy earned a master’s degree in special education at Kennesaw State University.

Before teaching at Mabry, she was a teacher at Daniell Middle School in East Cobb.

McCoy’s four children all attend Mabry and her oldest twin sons have taken her class.

Formerly a math and English language arts teacher, McCoy said she tries to see all her students through the lens of her own children.

The curriculum she has developed is very practical, focusing strongly on getting organized.

“It’s a lot to keep up with,” she said of students coming into middle school. “So, building healthy habits like writing in your agenda, having a to-do list, and binder organization is huge. Most of our students will either get assignments, and they’ll lose the assignment before they even complete it.”

Current Mabry 8th graders who took McCoy’s study skills class as sixth graders said it’s made a big difference.

“When I had her in sixth grade, it set up the rest of my years to make me better at keeping track of what I needed to do,” said one student.

Another said she’s taking what she’s learned about getting organized at Mabry into high school and college.

“I see something in each of my students, sometimes things that they don’t see themselves,” McCoy said. “My goal is to spark that fire, even if in just a handful of them, and make the same difference my teachers did for me.”

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