By Anna Grace Moore
Photos by Blair Ramsey
The best teachers are the ones who champion learning as the cure to all of the world’s problems, utilizing reading and knowledge as the best weapon for trailblazers to wield. In Vestavia Hills, many of these future wavemakers are being inspired from within the walls of a freshman English classroom.
On Wednesday, May 8 at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival’s Globe Theatre, Kira Aaron was named the Alabama Department of Education’s Alternate Teacher of the Year. Kira, who teaches ninth grade honors English at the Vestavia Hills Freshman Campus, was previously named the 2024-25 District III Teacher of the Year and was considered for Alabama State Teacher of the Year out of 16 finalists.
“It is not ever something I expected at all, but it is truly an honor to get to do what I love and share that with others,” Kira says.
Before being chosen as the District III Teacher of the Year, Kira was named Vestavia Hills City Schools’ Secondary Teacher of the Year. This achievement comes after her 15 years in education, following in her parents’ footsteps.
Hailing from Dadeville, Alabama, Kira grew up watching her parents inspire their students, igniting a passion in each of them and a yearning for learning. Kira’s father, Dr. Chuck Ledbetter–now the Superintendent of Pelham City Schools–started out teaching history and coaching football.
Kira’s mother, Kim Ledbetter, taught an unconventional pairing–math and French. After providing full-time care for a family member, Kim returned to the classroom and taught at a small school where she was the only math teacher for seventh grade through 12th grade.
Kira remembers Kim staying up for hours each night and waking up at dawn each morning, practicing math problems to make sure she was prepared to answer any question from fractions to calculus.
“[My parents] were good teachers,” Kira says. “They knew in order to reach kids, you had to have a relationship with them first. Nobody is going to learn from someone they don’t trust. They had a passion for people, which certainly rubbed off on me.”
After graduating from Dadeville High School, Kira attended Auburn University, majoring in secondary English education. Becoming a teacher was a no brainer for her, she says.
“I spent years teaching stuffed animals in my playroom, even teaching my two younger sisters when they didn’t want to be taught,” Kira says, chuckling. “They were pretty much always privy to ‘my classroom.’”
Kira, who says she has always had a passion for learning, was one of the most involved students in her graduating class. Not only was she a member of the Auburn University College of Education’s student council, but she was also a student ambassador, a student recruiter and a member of Alpha Gamma Delta.
After graduating from Auburn, Kira got her first role in education as an English teacher at Wacoochee Junior High School, where she taught seventh grade language arts. Although she only taught there for a year, Kira says that year opened her eyes to how influential educators can be. Following that school year, Kira and her love, Oliver Aaron, tied the knot, and she followed him to Troy–where he worked and she later received her Master’s Degree in Secondary Education.
During this time, Kira started teaching at Elba High School, where she was only one of three English teachers for seventh grade through 12th grade.
“They taught me that the teacher’s relationships with her peers is really the biggest indicator of her students’ success because her peers make her better,” Kira says.
Kira taught at Elba for two years, and in that time period, she became the yearbook sponsor, the journalism sponsor, the prom sponsor and the junior varsity cheer sponsor–by the way, she did not have any cheer experience.
Kira, smiling, recalls tackling responsibilities to her students outside of the classroom not as a chore, but as an opportunity to provide as many outlets as she could for her students to grow in their crafts. To her, encouraging students–no matter the subject, sport or hobby–is the most impactful resource in creating positive generational change.
After welcoming her firstborn into the world, Kira took a job teaching 10th grade English at Charles Henderson High School, where she taught for three years. In her time teaching there, Kira welcomed her second born and received the news that Oliver got a job as the college counselor at Vestavia Hills High School in 2013.
After moving to Vestavia Hills, Kira welcomed her third child and was able to take some time off to spend with her family. In 2016, an English teacher position opened at the high school, and Kira made her debut back in the classroom.
“I taught 11th grade and moved down to ninth grade when the school system announced its plan to open the freshman campus, which was exciting,” Kira says. “As a mom of students in the school system and a teacher, I thought it’d be really fun to help create the climate and culture of a new school.”
In 2019, Kira began her journey to pursue national board certification and even started a cohort of fellow educators working to achieve the same goal. Kira received national board certification in 2021, and in 2022, she went back to school and earned her Ed.S. from the University of Alabama.
In January 2024, Kira started her PhD program back where she started–Auburn University.
“I hope that my students see me as a learner and that they leave my room excited to learn, wanting to continue to learn no matter where they are or what their interests are,” Kira says. “I love to learn. I hope my kids see that in me.”
Looking back over the years, Kira says she knows she made the right career choice, and the proof is in her students’ smiling faces each time they enter her classroom. In fact, one of Kira’s favorite books to teach, “Lord of the Flies,” also happens to accompany some of her students’ favorite learning activities all year long.
Written by William Golding, “Lord of the Flies,” teaches about the dangers surrounding group conformity–to an extent, mob mentality. After several of the characters get spooked, thinking they’re being hunted by beasts–they make the mistake of killing one of their own.
Such an act seems at first incomprehensible, but Kira, every year, walks her students through such a mentality and why it’s important to think and act through reason, not fear.
Kira gathers her students together, marching with them around the classroom, chanting. At first, many of the students feel silly, but as their peers become more enthusiastic, they start to feel the rush of adrenaline propelling them to whoop and holler.
Before long, many of the students are dancing and chanting with all their might–at which point Kira settles the class and asks questions as to why they feel so invigorated. Through open discussion, Kira’s students learn how slippery of a slope excitement can turn into fear, and they also learn how this shared experience can translate to why people act the way they do at pep rallies, protests and more.
“I believe that literature connects people to each other and to the world around them,” Kira says. “It opens up our eyes to things we may not have understanding or awareness of.”
It’s not a surprise to anyone that Kira was honored as the Alternate Teacher of the Year. As much as she dedicates to her students and fellow educators, it’s easy to see how much of an impact Kira is creating by believing in her students, igniting a passion in each of them to follow their dreams.
While waking up to shape the minds of America’s youth may seem to some like an insurmountable task, to Kira, that’s just Monday–the best day of the week and the first chance she has to remind her students how special they all are.
“I love what I do,” Kira says. “It’s my joy to teach here in Vestavia Hills.”
The Power of Reading
“Reading allows so many opportunities for creativity and to form relationships with people. I believe that people were made for relationships, and the English language arts classroom lends itself to relationships with peers and exploration of the world around them.”
-Kira Aaron
