How Richmond’s Teacher of the Year is changing the story for young readers: 'Great teaching is magical'

RICHMOND, Va. — Before children can read between the lines, they first must learn to follow one.

At Fairfield Court Elementary in Richmond, the lesson plan is clear: reach students early. For early learners, mastering the basics—like finger-tracking and highlighting keywords—ensures they are prepared for the more complex reading comprehension required in third, fourth, and fifth grades.

The woman helping build that critical foundation is literacy coach Tiffany Sneed.

"It's just like a house. When your foundation is strong, you become stronger," Sneed explained to CBS6 News Anchor GeNienne Samuels. "If you have learned how to read early on in your elementary career, then you can build on those skills with comprehension, and then you're set up for success."

For Sneed, literacy is more than a job; it is a calling. She is known throughout the school for her constant promotion of reading, always eager to look at a book with a student or listen to them read.

Principal Angela Wright says Sneed’s passion is easy to read.

"We know her joy of reading is her gift," Wright said. "Since it is her gift, she shares it with everyone, and everyone just continues to benefit from it."

To understand why this mission matters so much to Sneed, you have to turn back a few pages in her own story. Her roots in the neighborhood run deep; her late 99-year-old grandmother lived just around the corner and raised Sneed's mother and siblings in Fairfield Court.

"Ultimately, being here was important to my family to bring back community-based learning," Sneed shared, noting that even visiting her grandmother after the school day was a cherished part of her routine.

It is one family, rooted in one neighborhood, helping to change the story inside one school.

Sneed knew that helping more children meant teaching the teachers, too. She provided dedicated coaching not just to students, but to teachers and the administrative team. The results speak for themselves: Principal Wright noted that the school's literacy screening scores reached nearly 80 percent last year, the highest among their peer schools.

Setting up kindergarten through second-grade students for success is vital. The data is clear: third graders who struggle to read are four times more likely to not graduate from high school. When poverty is added to the equation, that risk becomes six times greater.

Helping children beat those odds means making sure reading doesn't stop when the school bell rings. That is where the "If You Give a Child a Book" campaign comes in, providing students with their own books to take home.

"Everybody likes a gift, right? Everybody likes to make a choice," Sneed said while helping students at a recent book fair. "When they can pick something that they really enjoy, you know they're gonna take it home, be proud of it, and take care of it."

Sneed's tireless dedication did not go unnoticed. On a December morning in 2025, the educator who spent her career cheering on others walked into a cafeteria full of people cheering for her. In a massive surprise celebration, Sneed was named Richmond Public Schools' 2026 Teacher of the Year.

"It meant a lot because I do what I do from the heart," an emotional Sneed said after receiving the honor. "When you do what you do from the heart, you don't expect to be recognized."

Give A Child A Book

Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras noted that while Sneed never sought the recognition, she certainly earned it.

"I've often said, great teaching isn't magic, but it's magical. It just takes hard work and passion, and a great deal of love, and that's what we see from Tiffany," Kamras said. "Because of her, we see magical things every day in classrooms."

Now, Sneed's impact is reaching far beyond the walls of Fairfield Court. She recently stepped into a new role as an instructional specialist with Richmond Public Schools, where she gets to serve six different schools across the district.

But no matter how far her work travels, Sneed knows that success still starts with a young reader finding the words and turning the page.

"When you give a child a book, once you give it to them, it can never be taken away," Sneed said. "Once they have that experience and exposure with the text, they are gonna forever remember that, and that's a gift."

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