Henrico's Top Teachers – Anne Kyber, Crestview Elementary School, fifth grade

Anne Stewart Kyber owes her 19-year career as elementary school teacher to Ms. Carswell, her own second-grade teacher at Tuckahoe Elementary School.

“Looking back at who I am as a teacher. . . she just made me love school,” said Kyber, who for the past 10 years has been teaching at Crestview Elementary, following four years at Shady Grove Elementary and five years before that in North Carolina and Northern Virginia.

Carswell, according to Kyber, was very stern but also a strong relationship-builder.

“We are very different people. . . but there was just something about that year that I just fell in love with every aspect of school,” Kyber recalled. “She held us to high expectations academically as well as socially.”

Kyber later attended Tuckahoe Middle School before graduating from Freeman High School. She’s taught third, fourth and fifth grades during her career but fifth is her favorite (and the grade she’s taught all but two of her years at Crestview).

“They’re independent for the most part, but they still love school,” she said of her fifth-grade students. “They aim to please, and I can joke with them.”

Her approach is one geared toward inclusivity and care – the type of relationship-building of which her second-grade teacher would approve, but also, Kyber said, innate characteristics she’s had most of her life.

“I babysat starting when I was 11 years old, I worked at summer camps,” she said. “That has just always been part of who I am.”

Those with children in Kyber’s class are thankful for that.

“Mrs. Kyber should be recognized as a top teacher in the Henrico Citizen because of the love, care, and support she provides to her students,” a nominator wrote. “She builds responsibility in the classroom, communicates wonderfully with families, and truly makes each child feel valued. She has made such a positive impact on my son. He truly loves going to school each day because of her.”

Though Kyber conceded that the responsibilities of a teacher now are much greater than they were when she began her career in the classroom, she can’t imagine doing anything else.

“For awhile I wanted to become an archaeologist because I loved history,” she recalled with a laugh, “but then I realized how much more schooling you needed before you could dig. . . [In school], I’m teaching so much more than academics. I’m a guidance counselor, I’m a mom teaching responsibility and manners. . . We have so much on our plate.”

But Kyber credits Henrico Schools officials with working to make positive changes to help relieve teachers of some of the stress and burdens they face on a daily basis. She also can’t imagine being anywhere other than Crestview, which serves a diverse community and students who speak dozens of different languages.

“That’s the coolest part about Crestview, the diversity, and then we are so small,” she said. “It’s really a community, everybody loves being here. School is important to all of these families, which makes my job easier when parents are supportive. [Students] appreciate each other for their differences.”

And they appreciate Kyber for her enthusiasm, love and support.

“Mrs. Kyber takes the time to tap into her students’ interests, helping them feel engaged, confident, and excited about learning,” the nominator wrote of Kyber. “She also does a wonderful job building responsibility in the classroom and communicating with families. My son adores her and is already a little sad knowing he will have to leave her class next year.”