Henrico's Top Teachers – Lynda Reed

Lynda Reed has been teaching almost as long as she can remember. Growing up in Goode, Virginia as one of a dozen children, she had a thirst for knowledge from the age of five or six.

“I always wanted all of my younger siblings and friends to have the same knowledge that I had, even if it meant that I was giving it to them,” she said.

Today, she continues to share knowledge as an exceptional education teacher at Henrico High School, where she teaches English and works primarily with at-risk students and those with special needs and individualized education programs, or IEPs.

“She is the kindest, most patient, most reliable teacher I have ever met,” a colleague wrote in a nomination letter. “In addition to handling a caseload and teaching as a collaborative teacher, she also teaches her own self-contained reading class. Mrs. Reed is consistently kind and patient with even the most challenging students. She goes above and beyond to help the students, and contacts parents in order to make sure that they are involved and that they feel supported in their student’s educational decisions.

Reed credited her mother with instilling in her the patience that is evident to observers.

“I think that’s why I promote peace and harmony,” she said, “because if you’re in a classroom with 20-some kids, you have to kind of think of it as a home.

“Promote peace, and we all get along. Being impatient does not help the situation. The outcome is going to be the same.”

Reed’s own journey to the classroom is a testament to that patience. She worked as a supervisor for the Richmond Times-Dispatch for years but knew that she wanted to switch careers. So she put herself through college while working for the newspaper – first focusing on business, then switching to exceptional education.

She has been teaching in Henrico County since 1997 – first at Adams Elementary and since 2006 at Henrico High. Retirement is a few years away, but she is in no rush to get there.

“I actually like working with teenagers,” she said. “That’s the reason I’ve stayed.”

Reed’s efforts to help her students don’t end when the final bell sounds. Through a connection, she and another teacher acquired vouchers for shoes at JCPenney that they distributed to students in need.

Her quiet perseverance and nurturing nature with students is obvious to her peers.

“The burn-out rate for working with this population of at-risk and special needs population is anywhere from three to five years,” her colleague wrote. “Mrs. Reed has exceeded that and is going strong while continuing to be a consistent, caring teacher who goes above and beyond.

To Reed, it’s important to share the same type of message with her students that her parents imparted to their children.

“My mom and dad promoted education,” she said. “To me, education was going to be our ticket in life to be able to get good jobs and be able to maintain and do things in life.”

Of her career path, Reed said she wouldn’t change a thing.

“I couldn’t have written it any better. It’s like the script was written for me.”