Lee University alumna April Richmond, a spring 2024 graduate, has been awarded the Bradley County School District Novice Teacher Award for grades sixth through eighth.
 
The award recognizes a novice teacher – defined as an educator with 10 to 30 months of teaching experience – selected from sixth- through eighth-grade teachers across the district. Candidates are nominated by their respective institutions.
 
Richmond earned her Bachelor of Music Education from Lee’s School of Music in May 2024 and began her role as director of bands at Lake Forest Middle School in July 2024. In addition to directing bands, she serves as musical director, faculty sponsor for the school’s strings program, and sponsor for Beta Club and Bible Club.
 
Richmond is also active beyond the classroom, serving as a Fellowship of Christian Athletes speaker and supporting regional music education efforts. In 2024, she helped with the East Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association (ETSBOA) Lower Area Junior Band Clinic held at Lake Forest, and in 2025, she served as clinician host for the ETSBOA Lower Area Junior Band Clinic (Blue Band).
 

“Receiving this award means everything to me,” said Richmond. “We all have goals and dreams, and this was one of mine. I love what I do, and it means so much to have that work recognized, especially because so much of what teachers do every day goes unseen.”

Richmond said the honor carries special significance as it reflects the legacy established by her parents. Her mother, Gloria Scott-Richmond, is a former Cleveland City Schools educator and Teacher of the Year finalist for the state of Tennessee, who now serves as director of Racial and Ethnic Relations at Lee University and director of Lee’s Evangelistic Singers. Her father, Ty Richmond, is a special needs paraprofessional at Blythe Bower Elementary School and was recognized as Blythe Bower’s 2025 Classified Teacher of the Year.
 
Richmond also credits her time at Lee with preparing her to instill discipline and a strong work ethic in her students.
 
“April is the kind of person you can trust to get a job done with excellence,” said Dr. Austin Patty, professor of music theory at Lee. “While she was a student at Lee, I selected her to serve on a three-person research team and as my teaching assistant for my benevolence course, where she helped lead an extended service project at an after-school program.”
 
Now teaching at Lake Forest Middle School, a public rural middle school serving more than 1,200 students in grades sixth through eighth in southeast Bradley County, Richmond said her focus remains on investing in her students each day.
 
“At the end of the day, it’s about loving my students well and helping them believe in what they’re capable of,” said Richmond. “If I can do that, then I know I’m doing exactly what I was called to do.”