LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Meredith Billings was nominated by her principal, Tess Lawrence.

Teachers who inspire realize there will always be rocks in the road ahead of us. These LifeChangers also realize that these obstacles will either be stumbling blocks or stepping stones. Ms. Billings is one of those inspiring teachers who recognizes that she can choose to help, support, encourage, and teach her students with excellence if she uses these rocks as stepping stones to increase opportunities for learning.

Although her school dismissed last March on Friday the 13th, Ms. Billings' students continued to be in nurturing hands throughout the pandemic and rarely missed a beat. She challenged herself to further her learning as an educator who recently attained her National Board Certification in November. She tackled her next challenge of becoming a Google Certified Educator to help meet students' learning needs as virtual students. 

During the months of quarantine and summer, Ms. Billings recorded educational videos that were shared not only throughout her district, but on the local television station as a part of the Mississippi Education Series: School to Home Learning Project on Bounce TV.  Her commitment to teaching and inspiring her students had a positive effect on elementary teachers along the entire Gulf Coast.

Ms. Billings spent countless hours preparing engaging virtual lessons and creating Jamboards, Boom cards, Google documents and forms, instructional videos, Zoom presentations, and more. She viewed these rocks as stepping stones and embraced the opportunity to overcome the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Her resources and materials certainly increased the achievement of her students, but what ultimately furthered the learning of even more students was her willingness to teach veteran educators and novices how to effectively use these technological tools and platforms to help their own students succeed. Moreover, she has trained teachers and administrators during multiple focused faculty meetings, both in person and online.

This school year, Ms. Billings has continued to lead the way in technology for elementary teachers and students. She was chosen by her district to create and record instructional videos based on third grade learning standards that are shared throughout the district to bolster our students' academic success. She was selected by her district's Virtual Learning Coordinator to be a Virtual Lead Teacher. In this role, she helps train her colleagues on best practices for using technology and implementing best practices to meet the unique needs of virtual learners.

Ms. Billings teaches a hybrid third grade class, which is comprised of traditional students in class and all third grade virtual students at her elementary school. She uses Zoom, Google Classroom, and Swvl technology for her students' authentic engagement. She continues to navigate other platforms to share her resources with other educators around the nation. For example, she creates brief TikTok videos in which she shares fantastic time-saving and creative "Tech Tips for Teachers." Some of her Tech Tips for Teachers' videos have over 24,000 views. Indeed, she is making more than a ripple in the uncharted waters of the demands presented by the pandemic.

"Without a doubt, Ms. Billings is most deserving of the LifeChanger Spotlight Award," said Lawrence. "She has been instrumental for propelling our students forward during the pandemic, and her leadership has made an incredible positive difference at our school for students. Her impact has been great, and her influence has been monumental. Ms. Billings has demonstrated all of the desired qualities of a LifeChanger and has proven herself to be an exemplary leader during this unprecedented time."