By By LYDIA GRIMES Features writer
Kanetra Germany may be leaving her position as a teacher at W.S. Neal High School, but she is not leaving the field of education. She is only moving up to the state level and going to work at the Alabama State Department of Education in Montgomery.
She will be working in the Student Assessment Department and working with testing students all over the state.
Germany was born and reared in the Brewton area. She comes from a family of teachers as her parents came to Brewton to teach at Southern Normal. She is their only child and was raised in an atmosphere that most probably had a lot of influence on her decision to become a teacher.
She lived the first six years of her life on the campus of Southern Normal.
She was very active all the way through school and was an honors student.
As soon as she finished high school she went to college but was not sure what she wanted to do with her life.
She came back to Brewton and attended Jefferson Davis Junior College for a few quarters and then transferred to Alabama State in Montgomery where she received her degree in 1994. She also earned her masters degree from Alabama State in 1999 after she was already teaching school.
She decided to teach in the language arts field.
I made that decision, not because I love English, but because I thought I could speak well," she said. "So many young people are not good at that so I thought I might be able to help."
Her first teaching job was back in Escambia County. She began teaching at Upward Bound when it was at Southern Normal. She then took a position at Escambia Academy in Atmore where she taught for five years. She then moved to W.S. Neal High School and has been there for six years.
In her position at W.S. Neal High School, she says all the teachers have to serve in many ways and "wear many hats.' She is the senior sponsor, advisor for the National Honor Society, has served on the budget committee and serves on the BBST (building basic support team). It was in this position that she was able to make the connections to help her move on to the new job in Montgomery. Many times when the department needed someone for a particular project, her name would be suggested.
She is still interested in going back to school to earn her doctorate degree in order to maybe become a college president some day, but she is not sure what her future will be.
Germany married in 2001 to Keith Germany who is a local truck driver. She loves to write novelettes, poetry and short stories. She says she is a budget shopper and loves to travel.