Kevin Richardson

            Kevin Richardson has been a teacher for 15 years. He got his degree and license from 

Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, and he worked at schools in North and South Carolina before coming to teach at Hidden Valley 14 years ago, 10 of which were as a special-ed teacher. Mr. Richardson coached JV Baseball at Hidden Valley for a few years as well. He lives in Roanoke with 3 children and a wife. He is dedicated to making his classroom a fun environment. Mr. Richardson has built strong relationships with his students over the years, which gives his students a comfortable and welcoming environment to learn in.

            Mr. Richardson is positive and motivated to come to school every day, because he enjoys his students and building a strong relationship with them. He said, “The relationships you build with students. That’s one of the reasons why I wanted to do high school over middle school or elementary school, because I feel like you can actually have conversations and build relationships with students.” Mr. Richardson is a very enthusiastic teacher and person. When asked how he incorporates enthusiasm and fun into his class, he said, “I try to let students interact with each other. I agree that sometimes some of the assignments aren’t the most fun, but allowing students to talk with one another and engage with one another and have conversations with one another, whether they’re about material or not.”

            Mr. Richardson had a learning disability as a child, and the teachers told him he wouldn’t be able to go to college. He wanted to do his best to overcome this disability and help other children like him. When asked what originally motivated him to become a teacher, he replied, “I got into teaching because I have a learning disability myself, not necessarily the best reader or writer in the world, so I was in the special-ed program, had an IEP, and all that kind of stuff all through elementary and middle school. So, I wanted to get into teaching to help students who had difficulties like I did going up through education.” Mr. Richardson was very considerate and selfless to dedicate his time to helping other students that grew up like him.

Mr. Richardson is a great teacher, and he works hard to teach his students the material and prepare them for the SOLs while still having fun. There is no one more considerate than Mr. Richardson, and that is why he is a Hidden Hero.