Hi everyone! My name is Bailey Grantham and I am the high school 10th grade Biology teacher and one of the Student Council sponsors. I'm originally from Tifton, but I grew up all over South Georgia - primarily right outside of Columbus in a small town called Upatoi. I have one younger sister, who is also a teacher. My dad is the Senior Pastor at Tifton First in Tifton and my mom is currently working her small business. Because of my dad's job as a pastor, we've lived all over South Georgia. I have lived in Tifton, Montezuma, Upatoi, Brooklet and moved back home to Tifton in 2018. I was able to enroll in Muscogee Co. Schools starting in Jan. 2002 and finished up the remainder of my elementary, middle and high school education in Columbus. I graduated from the International Baccalaureate magnet program at Hardaway High School in Columbus in 2014. From there, I made my way to Young Harris College in North Georgia (close to the North Carolina boarder).

I graduated from Young Harris College with my Bachelor's of Science in Biology in May of 2018. While at Young Harris, I was apart of several clubs and organizations, but I'm most proud of what one of my friends and I accomplished between our junior year spring semester and our senior year fall semester. We conducted undergraduate research under the supervision of one of our bio professors. This research was in the scope of anesthetic dosages on non-game, native fishes of North Georgia. We both chose two different species and conducted this research over the period of a few months. We also presented this to different conferences, as well as presented it to our cohort and our professors to complete our senior thesis.

I took a break from school for a while trying to decide what I wanted to do. I felt called to education so I started looking for schools to go to online so that I could keep my former jobs and pay for my next degree.

I began my career in education working at Tifton First Methodist Preschool where I was in the toddler one room and subbed for all ages between 2 and 4. I knew my place was with older students though, so once I got my GACE completed, I started applying for various jobs. I came to Irwin County as the 8th grade science teacher in 2020 and was asked to move up to the high school for the 2021 school year. I have loved every minute of it.

While working at the preschool, I began my path to obtain my Master's of Arts in Teaching. I completed this through The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) and graduated in August of 2021. Hotty Toddy!

I was able to use my time teaching 8th grade as my student teaching experience for my requirements to earn my degree in education and also be allowed to change my certificate to Georgia's standards.

I feel incredibly blessed to be working in Irwin County with the staff and the students we have. Here's to several more years of teaching and gaining experience to share with your child in the classroom!