CAMILLA, Ga. — A good teacher can have a huge impact on students’ lives, and one Georgia woman has been impacting her students for a whopping 78 years.

Grace Adkins, lovingly known as Ms. Grace to her students, decided to retire on May 18 – her 95th birthday, USA Today reports.

Adkins has taught at Westwood School in Camilla since 1976, teaching generations of students.

People who live there call her “a Westwood icon,” the newspaper said.

Earlier this month, all the school’s students and teachers gathered to sing ‘happy birthday’ to Ms. Grace.

“All the kids came outside in front of the learning lab, and I led them in singing Happy Birthday to Ms. Grace,” headmaster Keith Croft told USA Today. “She enjoyed it immensely. Numerous kids came up and gave her hugs afterward. That was a very special moment.”

Croft told the paper that Ms. Grace has an immense love of reading and has recommended books for community members to check out on a biweekly basis.

“Her legacy will continue to live on at Westwood for many, many years,” Croft said.

One of her biggest accomplishments while at the school was founding the Westwood Learning Lab.

In a Facebook post, former students talked about Adkins’ passion for learning that changed their lives.

“Mama signed me up to go to The Lab so I could get extra help with math, which I struggled with even in elementary school,” one person wrote. “It was, and I’m sure still is, Mrs. Adkins’ passion. She is a true educator, a teacher who cared enough to push, to prod, to ‘be mean’ when she had to.”

Another former student recalled, “She cared about every young mind who walked through her door, never turning a student away, and never, ever giving up on one, including me. Mrs. Adkins, Grace is more than your name; it’s what you gave us. Thank you.”

A post from the school district read:

“It is impossible to know the number of lives she has impacted with her relentless determination to find the best in every student, firmly believing that ‘Every Child is a Winner.’ We are grateful for her lifelong focus on students, as she has created early intervention strategies to help each student reach his/her potential.”

Information used in this story came from USA Today.

©2023 Cox Media Group