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By Debra Hull
When Anne Rowe-Eddy, a middle school math and Bible teacher at Hilton Head Christian Academy, was honored as the Hilton Head/Bluffton Chamber of Commerce’s 2008 Sue West Educator of the Year, the entire Hilton Head community could be justifiably proud.
Anne grew up here. She played in the creeks and marshes, gathered her own oysters for family roasts, and learned how to water-ski on Broad Creek. She, and older sister Missy, frequented her daddy’s lobby at Kinghorn Insurance, eating French fries to pass the time. Eventually Anne went away to Clemson, and then on to graduate school at the Citadel, but she came back often, exulting in crossing the bridge with the windows rolled down.
“The smell of pluff mudd always meant that I was ‘home,’” she said.
While the beauty of the island instilled a love of place in Anne, it was her experiences with the local public and private school teachers and administrators that ignited her thirst for learning. From (then) Hilton Head Elementary School principal Isaac Wilborn (“just a lovely man!”) to her favorite teacher, a dynamic, young high school science teacher by the name of Mrs. Sue West, (“God bless her! “I bombarded that poor woman with so many questions!”) at the newly-minted, Hilton Head Preparatory School, Anne thrived on the innovation, knowledge, passion, love and integrity that these committed educators modeled.
“Mrs. West’s room was full of specimens and we actually got to go to the beach to collect samples for our marine biology class,” remembers Anne. Little did Mrs. West know that her hands-on approach to teaching, and her quest to show kids how what they were learning was relevant to their lives, would live on (Mrs. West died in her early 40s) and influence her student’s career.
“God gave us a mind to use to figure things out,” Anne enthused. “I don’t want my students to just memorize something and spit it back out. I love seeing how great the kids feel when they start to understand or see a connection!”
Anne spent eight years as a public school teacher in Summerville and two years as an assistant principal, at a 1000-student middle school, cutting her teeth on problems ranging from drugs and weapons to bus fires. With the eventual birth of their four children, Anne and husband Kent Eddy, came back home to Hilton Head to be near family.
She joined the staff of Hilton Head Christian Academy (her alma mater’s island friendly rival) as a fifth-grade teacher, eventually becoming the lower school principal.
“HHCA was a good fit for me,” she explained. “I had a craving to help these kids walk with the Lord.”
While Anne enjoyed seeing the big picture in administration, her heart’s desire was in the middle school classroom where she returned to teach math and Bible two years ago.
“Middle school is just in me,” she laughed. “Our headmaster Mr. Lindsey always says that everyone needs to be in the ‘right seat on the bus,’ and teaching middle school is mine.”
It’s a good fit all around. A middle school parent writes, “because of Mrs. Eddy, my son will look back and know that this was a moment that propelled him to a love of math and learning, and instilled an enthusiasm for hard work and deeper thinking.”
These are lessons well-learned, and a legacy for another Hilton Head generation.
