Welcome! My name is Lauren Hemerka and I am so excited to be working with your child this year! This is my 16th year in education, my fifth year at RRE, and I’ve been teaching in the county for 13 years. My degree is in Early Childhood Education with endorsements in ESOL, Early Childhood Special Education, and Gifted Education. I am a certified reading specialist and in the year 2015, I received the Teacher of the Year award at Baker Place Elementary. I have two children Arthur (6th grade) & Sophia (5th grade). My husband Bryan and I were both born in Pennsylvania, but have lived in the Evans area for 14 years. It's my goal as a teacher to instill a love of reading and language in all my students.
My name is Dawn Jeffers. In May of 2023, I retired after 30 years of teaching. I returned to River Ridge as an EIP Reading teacher in the fall. I love teaching and getting kids excited about reading. I have been Teacher of the Year at three schools, and I won the E. Paul Torrance Creativity Award for Georgia in 2017. I am married to an entrepreneur and am blessed with three wonderful children.