Tamecia Smith, or Mrs. T Smith as her students call her, arrives at Edgewood Elementary School at 7 a.m. Monday through Friday for a full day of teaching and tutoring, and eventually makes her way home about 5:30 p.m.

Smith is a second-grade teacher at the school, and has been working there for 10 years. But Smith has known for much longer that she wanted to teach children.

“By me being the only child for 13 years, I would have my dolls and line them up and I would teach them letters, … and I always played teacher and school with them,” Smith said.

“I always had a passion for teaching or anything dealing with people.”

Now that she has turned make-believe into reality, Smith said she is thankful every day that she gets to do something she enjoys and is so passionate about.

“It gives me so much more joy [to actually be a teacher] because I know that I truly was destined to be a teacher and I have a passion for what I do,” Smith said.

Smith is originally from Atmore, and she graduated from Escambia County High School before getting her bachelor’s degree from Concordia College Alabama and eventually her master’s and an education specialists degree from the University of West Alabama.

Smith is married to Kelvin Smith and she has a son, Kelvin Smith Jr. and a step-daughter Kamia Smith.

Smith said she got the drive to become a teacher and go to school from her mother, Wanda Hubert, who had Smith at a young age.

“I came from a single parent home and I remember my mom when she was young … she went on to go to college,” Smith said. “I remember going to Jefferson Davis Community College with her and I just saw the drive she had as a young mother … to be independent and show me how to be independent.”

Now, Smith focuses on her students and creating new and fun ways to teach them and keep them interested in learning.

“I try to make learning fun. I remember sitting at the desk and I remember having some teachers that really went the extra mile,” Smith said. “I’m always finding ways to reach my students.”