Henrico's Top Teachers – Amy Peterman

Students at Harvie Elementary School come from one of the county’s most challenged regions – and one of its most dangerous. That knowledge weighs on the minds of teachers at the school, including fifth-grade teacher Amy Peterman.

“We worry all the time about some of our kids,” she said – particularly during winter and summer breaks. “Summer isn’t always a happy time [for them] – they’re home by themselves all day, they’re not having extra structure.”

To help, Peterman stays in touch with students as best she can during breaks and regularly organizes donations of gift cards for groceries, Christmas presents, clothing and other items to families of those students who need extra help.

She credits a special group of friends she spends time with at Buddy’s restaurant in Richmond with donating more than $10,000 in items for her students and other Harvie students during her eight years at Harvie.

“She goes above and beyond being a teacher to these kids,” one nominator wrote of Peterman.

For Peterman, the key to having a positive impact on her students starts with developing trust.

“You have to spend the time to get to know them so that they can open up to you and want your help,” she said. “A lot of our kids are guarded. A lot of my kids have faced challenges over the years and haven’t necessarily been successful.”

That makes it all the more special for her when they do achieve success in the classroom. She celebrates those accomplishments with them, she said.

For Peterman, teaching at Harvie extends well beyond the walls of the classroom. Many of her students come from single-parent households and don’t have as much support at home as students elsewhere in the county, simply because their parents may be working several jobs to support them.

“There’s a lot of mothering involved,” Peterman said of her role. “I do find myself going above and beyond, doing extra things, realizing a lot of them don’t have as much help at home – not because their parents don’t want to help, but because they’re not able to because they’re busy, they’re working many jobs.”

Peterman is a 22-year teaching veteran who felt the profession calling her from an early age; her mother also taught at an elementary school, and her father taught at Northern Virginia Community College. She enjoys working with students on the cusp of middle school because their personalities are beginning to show and they’re able to have “real” conversations, she said.

“They’ll tell you what they’re feeling, what they’re thinking,” she said.

In return, Peterman is honest with them about the challenges they’ll face in middle school. She works to prepare them to become independent learners who can thrive at the next level.

Wrote a nominator: “I have read several letters over the years that Amy has received from students that are now young adults thanking her and calling her one of the best influences in their lives.”