By FULLER ROYAL
Staff Writer

Second in a series

Janet Robinson has taught school for 25 years. The Cerro Gordo Elementary School teacher received her first teacher of the year honor earlier this year when the school’s faculty selected her to represent them for the next school year.

“I am highly pleased to be recognized by my co-workers for the work I do in assuring the success and acceptance of the mentally and physically disabled students on our campus,” said the exceptional children’s teacher, who works with the trainable classes in grades five through eight.

Robinson enjoys teaching. She said the best part for her is “being able to help my special needs students reach their goals of independent living and helping them feel a sense of social recognition by their peers.”

She said she chose teaching to share in the joy and excitement of watching youngsters experience learning, especially those whose needs cannot be met in the regular classroom.

She blames legislators with the worst aspects of education.

“The worst part is striving to follow the guidelines made by lawmakers in Raleigh and Washington, she said, “because they are not directly aware of the rele-vant and immediate needs of my students with multiple disabilities.”

Robinson said more decision-making authority by local education agencies and classroom teachers is needed.

Robinson was born in the Evergreen community, daughter of Janice Sanderson and the late Norman Sanderson.

She attributes her strong work ethics and realizing the importance of a good edu-cation to her parents, who, “worked extremely hard to provide college education opportunities to seven children, three of whom are teachers in the Columbus County Schools system.”

She graduated from West Columbus High School and earned her bachelor’s in special education from UNC-Wilmington.

She earned teaching certification in mental retardation, learning disabilities and academically gifted.

She worked in Dillon, S.C. for five years, followed by seven years in the Whiteville City Schools. She has been with the Columbus County Schools for 13 years.

She and husband Andy have one son, Adam, a sophomore at East Carolina University. She is a member of Smyrna Baptist Church and is active in helping raise awareness of diabetes research through the American Diabetes Association.