Teacher gets engaged in front of class as kindergartners celebrate, SC photos show
May 27 was anything but a normal school day for one South Carolina kindergarten class, but for their teacher, it was day she’d dreamed about since she was a child.
The teacher, Jerricka Scott, got engaged in front of her family, friends and entire kindergarten class during a surprise ceremony in the school gym on May 27.
“Today at Hodges Elementary School’s Friday Celebration the students and staff celebrated as they witnessed kindergarten teacher Jerricka Scott say “YES” to her fiancé’s proposal,” Greensboro School District 50 wrote in a Facebook post. “Ms. Scott was totally surprised and so were all the students as they rejoiced in this celebratory moment for her.”
Scott is listed as ‘Teacher of the Year’ on the Hodges Elementary School website. Hodges is about 86 miles northwest of Columbia.
Scott’s fiancé, Jahmar Tate, told WHNS that he wanted to propose in front of her class because the students are her family.
“It’s important for me to make sure she knows that we’re a family together,” he told the outlet. “It’s me and you but they’re a part of your family, they’re a part of mine too.”
Tate is a counselor at Eastside High School in Atlanta, Georgia.
Video of the proposal taken by Robert Stevenson of GreenwoodCalendar.com shows people holding a banner that reads “Will you marry me?” and balloons as a visibly emotional Scott walks across the gym to hug Tate.
Tate and Scott did not immediately respond to requests for comment from McClatchy News on Monday.
Scott told the Index-Journal that she wanted to marry Tate since she met him.
“When he came in my life, it was unexpected, but I knew right away that this was my person,” she told the news outlet. “I’m just so looking forward to every day from this point on.”
The pair had been dating since July 2018, according to WHNS.
This story was originally published May 30, 2022 at 4:56 PM with the headline "Teacher gets engaged in front of class as kindergartners celebrate, SC photos show."