Words by Anna Lee Vaughn | Images by Ryan McGill
When Christy Lay does something as routine as grocery shopping, it is commonplace for her to run into a former student whose life she changed for the better. While Christy’s love for young people and education drove her to become a teacher, her career is an example of one’s passion becoming a life-changing art that positively affects those who experience it.
Christy Lay is a Dora High School alumnus and continues to give back to the school by educating its students. “I love this place. I always knew I would go to Bevill, then Montevallo, and come right back here,” she says. “I knew early on that I wanted to be a teacher, and not many people can say that. In tenth grade, I had a great math teacher who encouraged us to work together on the assignments she gave us. So, from there on, I knew I wanted to teach math. I had a God-given ability for it,”
Christy attended Bevill State Community College for two years and completed her education at the University of Montevallo. While Christy always planned to return home after finishing her education, she first spent seven years teaching in Calera, Alabama, which she describes as a valuable experience. But her time came to return home, and Christy, her husband, and two children made their way to Dora.
For the last seventeen years, Christy has poured her educational talents into the students at Dora High School, with a brief four-year stint at Sumiton Middle School. Early in her career, Christy saw a need for one-on-one tutoring and chose to go above and beyond her classroom. Most days, she gives up her evening free time and daily planning period to welcome students in for tutoring. Though she serves as an Algebra II teacher, she will do whatever is needed to help any student in any subject.
“For me, it’s about being down to earth with these kids, whether that’s trying to show them a video of me falling down at prom or apologizing because I overreacted to something. I want them to know nothing about what I do is perfect. Not my life, not my teaching. But I’m here, and I’m working and trying,” says Christy. “And usually, if I get that point across to them, when they come in that door, that’s what they give me. They don’t have to be perfect, but they know they have to try.”
Over the years, multiple students have contacted Christy to show that her efforts impacted their lives and careers. For this reason, Christy hopes to become a math interventionist after retiring from full-time teaching. No matter where she serves, years of students’ ‘Christy Lay stories’ prove that Christy has served her community well. WL
